Richard Matheson

Richard Matheson (born February 20, 1926) is an American author and screenwriter, typically of fantasy, horror or science fiction. Born in New Jersey, Matheson spent World War II as an infantry soldier. In 1949 he earned his bachelor's in journalism from the University of Missouri.

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He wrote a number of episodes for the American TV series The Twilight Zone, and scripted Steven Spielberg's first theatrical feature, Duel. Novels include The Shrinking Man (filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man), and a science fiction vampire novel, I Am Legend, which has been filmed twice, under the titles The Omega Man and The Last Man on Earth. (A proposed third film version, under the novel's original title and rumored to involve star Arnold Schwarzenegger and director Ridley Scott, hasn't managed to get off the ground.) Other Matheson novels turned into notable films include What Dreams May Come, Stir of Echoes, Bid Time Return (as Somewhere in Time), and Hell House (as The Legend of Hell House).

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A character named "Senator Richard Matheson" appeared in several episodes of The X-Files. The series's creator, Chris Carter, was a fan of Matheson's work on two series that influenced The X-Files (The Twilight Zone and '). Also, the TV series adaptation of "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" had the Szalinski family relocating to the fictional town of Matheson, Colorado.

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The telepath "John Matheson" in Crusade (TV_series) was named in honor of Matheson.

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Three of Matheson's children?Chris, Richard Christian, and Ali Matheson?are writers of fiction and/or screenplaays.

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Additional reading:

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• California Sorcery, edited by William F. Nolan and William Schafer
Richard Matheson: External links ►



 

February 20: February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 314 days remaining, 315 in leap years....

1926: 1926 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar)....

American: :This page disambiguates the many uses of American. For an article about those various uses, please see Use of the word American....




Richard Matheson related Images and Photos (experimental)

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