Autumnforest Crushes: Rod Serling


Rod Serling - December 25, 1924– June 28, 1975

What is not to love about this brilliant man? He was soooo ahead of his time and hip in a way that Johnny Cash was too. Too cool for this times and like Audrey Hepburn, timelessly in style.

Born from a Jewish family in Syracuse, NY with working class parents, he loved entertaining and acting from a young age. He loved storytelling, writing and radio with a focus on horror, thrillers and fantasy.

His time in WWII in the Pacific affected his liberal views and affected future themes in his work. He came back from the war, went to college, and studied radio. In college he also converted from Judaism to Unitarianism.  He married and had daughters. He worked in radio and wrote scripts. He later went on to write scripts for TV. Following airing of one of his scripts, he began to get notice. Growing frustrated with corporate types messing with his scripts, in 1959 he got "Twilight Zone" and had his own freedom with the script and direction of the program. He later sold the program to CBS.


In 1969, he began a new series, "Night Gallery" that focused on more gothic horror which lasted until 1973 (this was my personal favorite).

He often taught film classes in colleges around the country. He was an outspoken anti-war activist.

In 1975, this chain-smoking man had a series of heart attacks and finally succumbed to the stresses of it.

He will always be remembered for his shocking twist plots, greater questions about man and humanity, his sharp clipped voice and tense body posture.

Yes, Rod Serling was way ahead of his time and a reason he has earned a place on Autumnforest's crushes!

Comments

  1. I always thought his voice was OOBER sexy

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  2. If he was still alive, he'd have a crush on YOU. ;)

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  3. I just recently started watching Twilight Zone episodes on Netflix. Great show!

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  4. Whats not to love about that suave suave man? lol.

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