Bradbury, Ray 1920–

BRADBURY, Ray 1920–

(Douglas Spaulding)

PERSONAL

Full name, Ray Douglas Bradbury; born August 22, 1920, in Waukegan, IL; son of Leonard Spaulding (an electric company linesman) and Esther Marie (maiden name, Moberg) Bradbury; married Marguerite Susan McClure, September 27, 1947 (died November 24, 2003); children: Susan Marguerite, Ramona, Bettina, Alexandra. Education: Attended public schools in Waukegan, IL, and Los Angeles, CA. Politics: Independent. Religion: Unitarian–Universalist. Avocational Interests: Swimming, oil painting, walking, collecting masks, ceramics.

Addresses:

Agent— Don Congdon, 156 Fifth Ave., No. 625, New York, NY 10010.

Career:

Writer, producer, television show creator, and editor. Pandemonium Theatre Company, founder, producer, and director, 1963; Pacific Art Foundation, vice president. Worked as a newsboy in Los Angeles, CA, 1940–43.

Member:

Writers Guild of America, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (president, 1951–53), Screenwriters Guild of America (member of board of directors, 1957–61), Pacific Art Foundation.

Awards, Honors:

O'Henry Short Story Prize, 1947 and 1948; Benjamin Franklin Award, best short story of 1953–54 in an American magazine, for "Sun and Shadow" in Reporter; award for contribution to American literature, National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1954; Gold Medal, Commonwealth Club of California, 1954, for Fahrenheit 451; Junior Book Award, Boys' Clubs of America, 1956, for Switch on the Night; CINE Golden Eagle Award, screenwriting, Council on International Nontheatrical Events, 1957; Academy Award nomination, best short film, 1963, for Icarus Montgolfier Wright; Mrs. Ann Radcliffe Awards, Count Dracula Society, 1965 and 1971; Valentine Davies Award, Writers Guild of America, West, 1974; World Fantasy Award, life achievement, 1977; D.Litt., Whittier College, 1979; Balrog Award, best poet, 1979; Aviation and Space Writers Award, 1979, for a television documentary; award from PEN, 1985, for body of work; Gandalf Award (Grand Master), Science Fiction Achievement, 1989; the play version of The Martian Chronicles won five Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards; Gemini Award nomination, best short dramatic program, Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, 1990, for To the Chicago Abyss; Annual Cable Excellence (ACE) Award nomination, best dramatic series, National Cable Television Association, 1991, for The Ray Bradbury Theatre; George Pal Memorial Award, Academy of Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Films, 1999; National Book Foundation, 2000; Bram Stoker Award nomination, Horror Writers Association, 2001, for From the Dust Returned; novel category, Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, 2002; Bram Stoker Award nomination, Horror Writers Association, 2003, for One More for the Road; National Medal of the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, 2004.

CREDITS

Television Work; Series:

Creator, editor, and (with Peter Sussman and Larry Wilcox) executive producer, The Ray Bradbury Theatre (also known as The Bradbury Trilogy, Le monde fantastique de Ray Bradbury, Mystery Theatre, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, and Ray Bradbury presente; includes adaptations of Bradbury's stories, such as "The Playground," "The Crowd," "Banshee," "The Screaming Woman," "The Town Where No One Got Off," "The Lake," "The Pedestrian," "The Chicago Abyss," and "The Veldt"), HBO, 1985–87, then USA Network, 1987–92.

Television Work; Specials:

Executive producer (Wilcox Productions), The Town Where No One Got Off, HBO, 1986.

Executive producer (Wilcox Productions), The Screaming Woman, HBO, 1986.

Executive producer (Wilcox Productions), Banshee, HBO, 1986.

Television Appearances; Series:

Host, The Ray Bradbury Theatre (also known as The Bradbury Trilogy, Le monde fantastique de Ray Bradbury, Mystery Theatre, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, and Ray Bradbury presente ), HBO, 1985–87, then USA Network, 1987–92.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Voice of Ralph as Man, Any Friend of Nicholas Nickleby Is a Friend of Mine, 1982.

Himself, The Whimsical World of Oz (documentary), 1985.

Host, The Town Where No One Got Off, HBO, 1986.

Host, The Screaming Woman, HBO, 1986.

Host, Banshee, HBO, 1986.

Neptune All Night, PBS, 1989.

Presenter, The 64th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1992.

Voice, The Halloween Tree (animated), syndicated, 1993.

Himself, In Search of Oz (documentary), Arts and Entertainment, 1994.

"Outer Space: Can We afford to Go?," The Cronkite Report, The Discovery Channel, 1994.

Corwin (documentary), PBS, 1996.

Interviewee, "Moby Dick," Great Books, The Learning Channel, 1996.

Interviewee, Ray Bradbury: An American Icon (also known as Masters of Fantasy: Ray Bradbury, an American Icon ), Sci-Fi Channel, 1996.

Fantasy: Ray Bradbury, an American Icon ), Sci–Fi Channel, 1996.

Future Fantastic (documentary), The Learning Channel, 1997.

Masters of Fantasy: Arthur C. Clarke (documentary), Sci–Fi Channel, 1997.

Himself, Universal Horror (documentary), TCM, 1998.

Himself, The Harryhausen Chronicles (documentary), AMC, 1998.

Himself, Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces (documentary), TCM, 2000.

Himself, Walt: The Man Behind the Myth (documentary), ABC, 2001.

Tales of Edgar Allen Poe (documentary), The Learning Channel, 2001.

Hugh Hefner: American Playboy Revisited (documentary), Arts and Entertainment, 2001.

Himself, Hollywood Legends (documentary), 2004.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Guest, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, Comedy Central, 1996.

Himself, The Screen Savers, Tech TV, 2003.

Himself, Dennis Miller, CNBC, 2004.

Also appeared in Today, NBC; also interviewed on numerous Larry King shows, as well as other talk shows.

Film Work:

Creative consultant, Mirrors (also known as Marianne ), 1978.

Film Appearances:

Narrator, King of Kings, 1961.

Literary party guest, Rich and Famous, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer/United Artists, 1981.

Himself, The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (documentary), Passport Video, 1985.

Himself, 100 Years of Horror: The Evil Unseeable (documentary), Passport Video, 1996.

Himself, 100 Years of Horror: Sorcerers (documentary), Passport Video, 1996.

Himself, 100 Years of Horror: Giants and Dinosaurs (documentary), Passport Video, 1996.

Himself, Amargoas, 2000.

(Uncredited), The Tramp and the Dictator (documentary), 2002.

Ray Bradbury Dancing among the Muses, 2001.

Himself, The Optimistic Futurist (documentary short film), 2004.

Stage Work:

(With S. L. Stebel and Charles Rome Smith) Producer, Next in Line, Pandemonium Theatre Company, New Ivar Theatre, 1992.

RECORDINGS

Videos:

Himself, "Brace New Prune," The Stan Freberg Commercials (also known as Tip of the Freberg: The Stan Freberg Collection ), 1999.

WRITINGS

Plays:

The Meadow, produced at Huntington Hartford Theatre, Hollywood, CA, 1960.

Way in the Middle of the Air, produced at Desilu Gower Studios, Hollywood, 1962.

The Anthem Sprinters, and Other Antics (four one–acts), produced at Beverly Hills Playhouse, Beverly Hills, CA, 1967, published by Dial, 1963.

The World of Ray Bradbury (three one–acts: The Pedestrian, The Veldt, and To the Chicago Abyss ), produced at Coronet Theatre, Los Angeles, 1964, then Orpheum Theatre, New York City, 1965.

The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, produced at Coronet Theater, 1965, later Bouwerie Lane Theatre, New York City, 1981, published by Dramatic Publishing, 1986.

The Day It Rained Forever (one–act), published by Samuel French, 1966.

The Pedestrian (one–act), published by Samuel French, 1966.

Dandelion Wine (based on his novel of the same title; music composed by Billy Goldenberg), produced at Forum Theatre, New York City, 1967, later Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL, 1976, then Arena Stage, Washington, DC, 1982–83, published by Dramatic Publishing, 1988.

Any Friend of Nicholas Nickleby Is a Friend of Mine, produced 1968.

Christus Apollo (music by Jerry Goldsmith), produced at Royce Hall, University of California, Los Angeles, 1969.

Leviathan 99, produced at Stage 9 Theatre, 1972.

The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and Other Plays (contains The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, The Veldt, and To the Chicago Abyss ), published by Bantam, 1972, published in England as The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and Other Plays for Today, Tomorrow, and Beyond Tomorrow, Hart–Davis, 1973.

Madrigals for the Space Age (for chorus and narrator; music composed by Lalo Schifrin) produced at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, 1973, published by Music Publishers, 1972.

Pillar of Fire, produced at Little Theatre, California State College, Fullerton, CA, 1973.

Pillar of Fire and Other Plays for Today, Tomorrow, and Beyond Tomorrow (contains Pillar of Fire, Kaleidoscope, and The Foghorn [based on his story of same title]), published by Bantam, 1975.

That Ghost, That Bride of Time: Excerpts from a Play–in–Progress, published by Roy A. Squires Press, 1976.

The Martian Chronicles (based on his novel of same title), produced at Colony Theatre, Los Angeles, 1977, published by Dramatic Publishing, 1986.

Fahrenheit 451 (musical; based on his story of same title), produced at Colony Theatre, 1979, published by Dramatic Publishing, 1986.

The Veldt (based on his story of the same title), first produced in London, 1980, published by Dramatic Publishing, 1989.

A Device Out of Time, published by Dramatic Publishing, 1986.

The Flying Machine, published by Dramatic Publishing, 1986.

Kaleidoscope, published by Dramatic Publishing, 1986.

Falling Upward, produced at Melrose Theatre, Los Angeles, 1988, published by Dramatic Publishing, 1989.

To the Chicago Abyss, published by Dramatic Publishing, 1989.

Ray Bradbury on Stage: A Chrestomathy of His Plays, 1991.

Screenplays:

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (based on his story "The Foghorn"), Warner Bros., 1953.

It Came from Outer Space (based on a story by Bradbury), 1953.

(With John Huston) Moby Dick (based on Herman Melville's novel of the same title; also known as Herman Melville's Moby Dick ), Warner Bros., 1956.

(With George C. Johnson) Icarus Montgolfier Wright, Format Films, 1962.

(Author of narration and creative consultant) An American Journey, U.S. Government for United States Pavilion at New York World's Fair, 1964.

(As Douglas Spaulding; with Ed Weinberger) Picasso Summer, Warner Bros./Seven Arts, 1972.

Something Wicked This Way Comes (based on his novel of same title), Buena Vista, 1983.

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, 1992.

The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (based on his stage play of the same title and the short story "The Magic White Suit"), Buena Vista, 1998.

Con palos y piedras (short film), 2000.

Television Episodes:

"Shopping for Death," Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 1955.

"The Marked Bullet," Jane Wyman's Fireside Theatre (also known as Jane Wyman Presents and Jane Wyman Theatre ), 1956.

"Design for Loving," Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 1958.

"The Gift," Steve Canyon, 1958.

"Tunnel to Yesterday," The Troubleshooters, 1959.

"Special Delivery," Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 1959.

"The Faith of Aaron Menefee," Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 1962.

"The Jail," Alcoa Premiere, 1962.

"I Sing the Body Electric," The Twilight Zone, 1962.

"The Life Work of Juan Diaz," The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, 1964.

The Fox and the Forest (also known as Out of the Unknown: Fox and the Forest ), 1965.

"The Burning Man," Twilight Zone, CBS, 1985.

The Ray Bradbury Theatre, HBO, 1985–87, then USA Network, 1987–92.

"The Elevator," Twilight Zone, CBS, 1986.

Also wrote "The Groon," The Curiosity Shop; "Zero Hour," Star Tonight; "The Jar," Alfred Hitchcock Presents; episodes of Suspense, CBS Television Workshop, CBS, Windows, and Historias para no dormir.

Television Specials:

Any Friend of Nicholas Nickleby Is a Friend of Mine, 1982.

"The Invisible Boy," Robbers, Rooftops and Witches, 1982.

Savannen, 1983.

"Walking on Air," WonderWorks, PBS, 1987.

The Halloween Tree (animated; based on his juvenile novel of the same title), syndicated, 1993.

Radio Plays:

Leviathan 99, BBC, 1966.

"Bradbury 13," NPR Playhouse, National Public Radio, 1984.

Forever and the Earth (limited edition), published by Croissant and Co., 1984.

Also contributed to CBS Radio Playhouse, c. 1940s.

Novels:

The Martian Chronicles, Doubleday, 1950, revised edition published as The Silver Locusts, Hart–Davis, 1951.

Dandelion Wine, Doubleday, 1957.

Sun and Shadow, Quenian Press, 1957.

Something Wicked This Way Comes, Simon & Schuster, 1962.

Death Is a Lonely Business, Knopf, 1985.

A Graveyard for Lunatics, Knopf, 1990.

The Dead Ride Fast, Knopf, 1990.

Green Shadows, White Whale, 1992.

Let's All Kill Constance, Morrow, 2003.

Short Story Collections:

Dark Carnival, Arkham, 1947, revised edition, Hamish Hamilton, 1948.

The Illustrated Man, Doubleday, 1951, revised edition, Hart–Davis, 1952.

The Golden Apples of the Sun, Doubleday, 1953, revised edition, Hart–Davis, 1953.

The October Country, Ballantine, 1955.

A Medicine for Melancholy, Doubleday, 1959, revised edition published in England as The Day It Rained Forever, Hart–Davis, 1959.

The Small Assassin, Ace Books, 1962.

The Machineries of Joy, Simon & Schuster, 1964.

The Vintage Bradbury, Vintage, 1965.

Twice Twenty–Two (contains The Golden Apples of the Sun and A Medicine for Melancholy ), Doubleday, 1966.

(With Robert Bloch) Bloch and Bradbury: Ten Masterpieces of Science Fiction, Tower, 1969, published in England as Fever Dreams and Other Fantasies, Sphere, 1970, published as Whispers from Beyond, Peacock Press, 1972.

I Sing the Body Electric!, Knopf, 1969.

Ray Bradbury, Harrap, 1975.

Long after Midnight, Knopf, 1976.

(And author of introduction) To Sing Strange Songs, Wheaton, 1979.

(And author of introduction) The Last Circus, Lord John, 1980.

The Stories of Ray Bradbury, Knopf, 1980.

(And author of introduction) A Memory for Murder, Dell, 1984.

The Toynbee Convector, Knopf, 1988.

Kaleidoscope, 1994.

Quicker Than the Eye, Avon, 1997.

Driving Blind, Avon, 1997.

Ahmed and the Oblivion Machines: A Fable, 1998.

Ray Bradbury Collected Short Stories, Peterson Publishing, 2001.

One More for the Road: A New Short Story Collection, Morrow, 2002.

Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales, Morrow, 2003.

Poetry:

Old Ahab's Friend, and Friend to Noah, Speaks His Piece: A Celebration, Roy A. Squires Press, 1971.

When Elephants Last in the Dooryard Bloomed: Celebrations for Almost Any Day in the Year, Knopf, 1973.

That Son of Richard III: A Birth Announcement, Roy A. Squires Press, 1974.

Where Robot Mice and Robot Men Run Round in Robot Towns: New Poems, Both Light and Dark, Knopf, 1977.

Twin Hieroglyphs That Swim the River Dust, Lord John, 1978.

The Bike Repairman, Lord John, 1978.

The Author Considers His Resources, Lord John, 1979.

The Attic Where the Meadow Greens, Lord John, 1979.

The Haunted Computer and the Android Pope, Knopf, 1981.

The Complete Poems of Ray Bradbury (contains Where Robot Mice and Robot Men Run Round in Robot Towns, The Haunted Computer and the Android Pope, and When Elephants Last in the Dooryard Bloomed ), Ballantine, 1982.

The Last Good Kiss: A Poem, illustrated by Hans Burkhardt, Santa Susana Press, 1984.

Forever and the Earth, 1984.

Death Has Lost Its Charm for Me, Lord John, 1987.

With Cat for Comforter, Gibbs Smith, 1997.

Dogs Think That Every Day Is Christmas, Gibbs Smith, 1997.

I Love by the Invisible: New and Selected Poems, Salmon, 2002.

Juvenile Story Collections:

R Is for Rocket, Doubleday, 1962.

S Is for Space, Doubleday, 1966.

The April Witch, Creative Education, Inc., 1987.

The Other Foot, Creative Education, Inc., 1987.

The Foghorn, Creative Education, Inc., 1987.

The Veldt, Creative Education, Inc., 1987.

Fever Dream, St. Martin's, 1987.

The Smile, Creative Education, Inc., 1991.

Other Juveniles:

Switch on the Night, Pantheon, 1955, reprinted with illustrations by Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon, Knopf, 1993.

The Halloween Tree (novel), Knopf, 1972.

The Dragon, illustrated by Ken Snyder, B. Munster, 1988.

A Graveyard for Lunatics: Another Tale of Two Cities, Knopf, 1990.

Ahmed and the Oblivions Machines, Avon, 1998.

Something Wicked This Way Comes, Avon, 1999.

You Are Here: The Jerde Partnership International, Phaidon Press Ltd., 1999.

Death Is a Lonely Business, Avon, 1999.

The Illustrated Many, Chivers Press, 1999.

The Country, Avon, 1999.

From the Dust Returns: A Family Remembrance, William Morrow, 2001.

The Cat's Pajamas, Morrow, 2004.

Other:

(Editor and contributor) Timeless Stories for Today and Tomorrow, Bantam, 1952.

Fahrenheit 451 (collection; contains "Fahrenheit 451," "The Playground," and "And the Rock Cried Out"), Ballantine, 1953, reprinted with foreword by Bradbury, Simon & Schuster, 1993.

Fahrenheit 451 (previously published as part of collection), Hart–Davis, 1954.

(Editor) The Circus of Dr. Lao and Other Improbable Stories, Bantam, 1956.

(With Lewy Olfson) Teachers Guide: Science Fiction (essay), Bantam, 1968.

(With Bruce Murray, Arthur C. Clarke, Walter Sullivan, and Carl Sagan) Mars and the Mind of Man (verse and essays), Harper, 1973.

Zen and the Art of Writing (essays), Capra Press, 1973.

The Best of Bradbury, Bantam, 1976.

The Mummies of Guanajuato (short story), Abrams, 1978.

The Aqueduct (short story), Roy A. Squires Press, 1979.

Beyond 1984: Remembrance of Things Future (articles and poems), Targ, 1979.

About Norman Corwin (essay), California State University, Northridge, 1980.

The Ghosts of Forever (five poems, a story, and an essay), Rizzoli, c. 1981.

Dinosaur Tales (verse and short story collection), Bantam, 1983.

The Love Affair (a short story and two poems), Lord John, 1983.

(Author of text) Los Angeles, Skyline Press, 1984.

(Author of text) Orange County, Skyline Press, 1985.

(Author of text) The Art of "Playboy, " Alfred Van der Mack, 1985.

Folon's Folons, 1990.

Yestermorrow: Obvious Answers to Impossible Futures, 1991.

(Editor) A Day in the Life of Hollywood, 1992.

Journey to Far Metaphor: Further Essays on Creativity, Writing, Literature, and the Arts, 1994.

The First Book of Dichotomy, the Second Book of Symbiosis, 1995.

A Chapbook for Burnt–Out Priests, Rabbis, and Ministers, 2001.

Conversations with Ray Bradbury, University Press of Mississippi, 2004.

Author of forewords and prologues for other publications and authors. Bradbury's work is represented in seven hundred anthologies (many of which are school texts), including Best American Short Stories, 1946, 1948, 1952, and 1958, and The Ghoul Keepers, Pyramid Books, 1961.

Contributor of short stories and articles, sometimes under pseudonyms, to Life, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Omni, Reporter, Playboy, Saturday Review, Weird Tales, and other periodicals.

ADAPTATIONS

The motion picture El marciano, released in 1965, was based on a Bradbury story. Fahrenheit 451 was adapted into a screenplay, released by Universal, 1966, a new film version was released in 2005, and it was adapted as an opera, by Georgia Holof and David Mettere, first produced at the Indiana Civic Theater, Fort Wayne, IN, 1988. The Illustrated Man was adapted into a screenplay, released by Warner Bros., 1969. The film Melodrama Infernal, released in 1969, was based on stories by Bradbury. The story "The Screaming Woman" was filmed for television in 1972; and the story "Murderer" was filmed for television by WGBH–TV, Boston, MA, 1976. The Martian Chronicles was filmed as a television miniseries, c. 1980; it also served as the basis for the screenplay Trinadtsaty Apostol (also known as The 13th Apostle ), released in 1988. The story "Frost and Fire" was adapted as the screenplay Quest, released in 1983. The film All Summer in a Day, released in 1982, is based on a story by Bradbury. "The Electric Grandmother" has been adapted into a television play, by Jeffrey Kindley, Peacock Theatre, NBC, 1983. The 1986 television special, Banshee, was based on a Bradbury story, as was the film Veld, 1987. The story "Next in Line" was adapted as a play by S. L. Stebel and Charles Rome Smith, and produced by the Pandemonium Theatre Company, at the New Ivar Theatre, 1992. The television movie It Came from Outer Space II, released on the Sci–Fi Channel in 1996, was based on a story by Bradbury. The motion picture El Umrbal was based a story by Bradbury and released in 2003. The motion picture A Sound of Thunder was based on a short story by Bradbury and released by Warner Bros., 2005. The 1996 television miniseries Vino iz Oduvanchikov (also known as Dandelion Wine ) was also based on Bradbury's books. Other Bradbury works have been adapted into other media, including sound recordings. The Autumn People, Ballantine, 1965, and Tomorrow Midnight, Ballantine, 1966, are comic adaptations of some of Bradbury's stories. The television special Walking on Air (also known as Wonderworks ), which aired on PBS, was adapted from one of his short stories.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series, Volume 30, Gale, 1990.

Contemporary Literary Criticism, Gale, Volume 1, 1973, Volume 3, 1975, Volume 10, 1979, Volume 15, 1980, Volume 42, 1987.

Contemporary Novelists, 7th edition, St. James Press, 2001.

Dictionary of Literary Biography, Gale, Volume 2: American Novelists since World War II, 1978, Volume 8, Twentieth-Century American Science Fiction Writers, 1981.

Greenberg, Martin H., and Joseph D. Olander, editors, Ray Bradbury, Taplinger, 1980.

Johnson, Wayne L., Ray Bradbury, Ungar, 1980.

Nolan, William F., The Ray Bradbury Companion, Gale, 1974.

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, St. James Press, 2004.

Weist, Bradbury: An Illustrated Life: A Journey to Far Metaphor, HarperCollins, 2002.

Periodicals:

Publishers Weekly, October 22, 2001, p. 40.

Starlog, April, 1990, p. 29.