Charles Beaumont
From Free net encyclopedia
Current revision
Charles Beaumont (January 2, 1929 – February 21, 1967) was a prolific U.S. author of fantasy and science fiction short stories who frequently wrote for The Twilight Zone TV series and scripts for such films as The Masque of the Red Death. He was responsible for some of the Twilight Zone series' most memorable episodes, including an adaptation of his own short story, "The Howling Man", the filming of which starred John Carradine.
He was born in Chicago, Illinois as Charles Leroy Nutt to an abusive mother who frequently dressed him in girls' clothes and once killed one of his pets as punishment. Beaumont was an outgoing, spontaneous person, prone to taking trips out of the country at a moment's notice. An avid racing fan, he would often enjoy participating in, or spectating at, area speedway races with other authors tagging along.
At age 34, Beaumont began to suffer from Alzheimer's disease. Many of his friends and fellow writers, including William F. Nolan, took to ghostwriting for Beaumont so that he could still fulfill his many writing commissions despite his illness. His name would remain on the text and, privately, he insisted on splitting his fees with those authors who wrote the pieces for him. He died in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 38.
External links
Further reading
- California Sorcery, edited by William F. Nolan and William Schafer.