Morgan, Byron 1921-2008 (By Morgan, Byron Albert Morgan)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born February 3, 1921, in Los Angeles, CA; died of pulmonary failure, February 13, 2008, in Paramount, CA. Film and television producer and director, screenwriter, playwright, and author. Morgan, the son of another Hollywood screenwriter of the same name, parlayed his personal experiences into a successful career as an award-winning filmmaker. He served as a U.S. Navy pilot during World War II; his valor, including a stint in a Siberian prison camp, earned him an Air Medal. Morgan returned to the air as a combat pilot over Korea, then became a scriptwriter for the Naval Photographic Center. That experience led him to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, where he worked as documentary film producer, director, and writer until 1965, when he established his own production company. Morgan's documentaries about the American space program, from Sputnik to Apollo, educated and inspired hundreds of millions of school children over the years, and his eyewitness coverage of mission launches and other publicity events graced American television sets for years. Morgan made at least 150 documentary films for various military and government agencies and for public television, He was a consultant for the popular television miniseries Space and the feature film The Right Stuff. His own films earned Morgan nearly fifty national and international awards, including several CINE Gold Eagles from the Council on International Nontheatrical Events. His writings include Dance of the Green Monkey, a film he once described to CA as "a medical detective story concerning the start of AIDS in the United States," October Days, a play based on his experiences as a Russian prisoner of war, and his memoir, Escape the Red Bear: A Navy Pilot's Odyssey—Hollywood to Siberia and Back (1998).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Morgan, Byron, Escape the Red Bear: A Navy Pilot's Odyssey—Hollywood to Siberia and Back, Capstar Communications (Santa Monica, CA), 1998.

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, March 15, 2008, sec. 4, p. 11.

Los Angeles Times, March 8, 2008, p. B10.

Washington Post, March 12, 2008, p. B7.