Creator of the Twilight Zone

1924-1975 Born in New York Second born into

family of grocers Very imaginative

child, put on plays for his family on the stage his father built him

Practical joker / class clown

Seventh grade teacher inspired him to pursue a life of entertainment

Rather than going to college, Serling enlisted in the army to participate in WWII

Serling contemplated dropping out of high school to enlist, but his Government teacher told him that “War is temporary. Education is a lifetime.”

Took up boxing to relieve stress while enlisted Being a Jewish man, he wanted to fight Hitler Witnessed many unexpected deaths, and

inspired future stories Awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and

Philippine Liberation Medal Suffered from PTSD

Worked at a rehabilitation center for veterans, as he was rehabilitating from a GSW to the knee

He fell down many flights of stairs, because his knee never really healed

Graduated from college with a bachelors in Literature; while in college, participated in the campus radio station

While in college, he met Carolyn Louise Kramer, and wanted to date her, but she continually turned him down, because he was known as a “ladies’ man”

Serling finally convinced Kramer to give him a chance, and they finally ended up getting married in 1948

He converted from Judaism to Unitarianism so he could marry Kramer

They had two daughters, Jodi and Anne

Spent a majority of his summers in New York

Worked as a parachute tester to provide income for his family

Worked for and wrote for many radio stations Won several prizes for his work on the radio In the early years of his career, he tried to get

into television and received 40 rejection slips Finally got a break in 1955 when his 70-second

script aired He grew tired of stations “tearing apart” his

scripts, and decided to make his own show He proposed a science-fiction show that CBS

aired under DesiLu’s studio

Due to the popularity of his episode on “Desilu Playhouse”, CBS let him have his own show that he entitled, “The Twilight Zone”

“The Twilight Zone” was a show that aired science-fiction stories that usually had unexpected endings

Twilight Zone means “gray area” or the time in between night and day

“The Twilight Zone” premiered in 1959, and ran 156 episodes, with Serling writing 92 of them

Many episodes of “The Twilight Zone” were controversial (i.e. “I Am The Night – Color Me Black”

“The Twilight Zone” was cancelled TWICE, but was renewed both times

When “The Twilight Zone” was finally cancelled for the third time, Serling tried to create more TV shows, but none ever gained the popularity of “The Twilight Zone”

He also wrote many prose works and did appearances on many school campuses

“The Twilight Zone” came back to television twice after Serling death in the 1980s and early 2000s

Anti-War Activism “The Rack” – soldier conspiring with Koreans “No Christmas This Year” – Santa being shot at “24 Men to a Plane” – soldiers jump too early Supported McCarthy while running for President

Misanthropy "The Fever", "The Monsters Are Due on Maple

Street", "Mr. Dingle, the Strong" and "The Shelter"

Racial Equity “A Town Has Turned to Dust” – lynching

Serling died at the age of 50, of a fifth heart attack during open heart surgery

The public thought that he died of lung cancer, as he was a lifelong smoker

Truth: Serling died of heart failure in his 50s, like both his father and grandfather

By his death, Serling had won more than twenty awards for “The Twilight Zone”

Disney’s Tower of Terror is centered around “TTZ”

When in the Tower of Terror, you actually see a hologram of Serling and the very famous introduction to each episode