- Born
- Died
- Birth nameHarlan Jay Ellison
- Height1.59 m
- Author Harlan Ellison was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Serita (Rosenthal) and Louis Laverne Ellison. He had an older sister, Beverly. Harlan was married five times. He lived in Sherman Oaks at "Ellison Wonderland". He had the same address and phone number for decades, was a teetotaler, and never used drugs.- IMDb mini biography by: C. Riddle
- SpousesSusan Anne Toth(September 7, 1986 - June 27, 2018) (his death)Lori Horowitz(1976 - 1977)Loretta (Basham) Patrick(1966 - 1966)Billie Joyce Sanders(1960 - 1963) (divorced)Charlotte B. Stein(1956 - March 1960) (divorced)
- ParentsLouis Laverne EllisonSerita Rosenthal
- RelativesBeverly Rabnick(Sibling)
- Outspoken abrasive personality
- Speculative fiction themes, usually involving cyborgs and machines
- Frequently works with Walter Koenig (Memo from Purgatory (1964), two episodes on The Starlost (1973) and several episodes on Babylon 5 (1993)). Harlan even based one of his stories, "Jeffty Is Five", on a misheard comment about Walter's son, Jeff.
- Ellison uses the pseudonym "Cordwainer Bird" for works where he considers that the producers have so tampered with the integrity of his original story that he wants the whole world to know it. Hence, if you see something credited to "Cordwainer Bird", you know that Ellison is so angry at his treatment that he's going to force the producers to publicly acknowledge the fact (via the credits) that he considers them rather worse than fools. It is also a reference to the great science-fiction writer Cordwainer Smith. "Cordwainer Smith", in turn, was the pseudonym of Dr. Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger (1913-66), a professor of Asiatic politics, expert on psychological warfare and advisor to President John F. Kennedy. Harlan has used this pseudonym for an episode of the "Flying Nun" and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" as well as the entire series of "The Starlost".
- He was famous for not suffering fools gladly and for his outspoken nature, which has led to more than his share of high-profile feuds. The most famous was with Star Trek (1966) creator Gene Roddenberry, who had Ellison's famous television script (The City on the Edge of Forever (1967)) rewritten to fit with Roddenberry's vision. Roddenberry would not allow him to put his pseudonym "Cordwainer Bird" on the project. To add insult to injury, for the rest of his life Roddenberry took credit for having "saved" the story, which is consistently ranked as the best of the series by critics and fans and as one of TV's 100 greatest moments by "TV Guide" (July 1, 1995).
- In his book "Stalking the Nightmare", he recounts an incident that led to his being fired from Walt Disney Productions on his first day of work. At lunch in the studio commissary, he jokingly told fellow writers that they should "do a Disney porn flick", and proceeded to act out parts in the voices of various Disney characters, unaware that animation head Roy Edward Disney and other studio chiefs were sitting nearby. Ellison claims that when he returned to his office, he found a termination letter on his desk, and his name on his parking space had been painted over.
- When he first took a writing course, his teacher told him he was terrible and should give up writing. When he became successful, he sent the teacher a copy of every good review his work ever got.
- He was once kicked out of a convention where he was the guest of honor.
- When J. Michael Straczynski was a struggling young writer, he telephoned Ellison for advice. He replied, "The reason your stories are being rejected is because you're writing crap. Stop writing crap!".
- [his feelings about the term "science-fiction"] Call me a "science-fiction" writer and I'll come to your house and nail your pet's head to the table.
- For a brief time I was here; and for a brief time I mattered.
- [on working in Hollywood] This town is filled with weasels and wormers and people who will stab you in the front if they can't reach your back.
- [in 1980] There are fewer and fewer people reading today. Clearly. Obviously. Statistics prove it, and historically what we're doing is we're programming ourselves right into an illiterate no-no land. It's going to be crazier and crazier in this country as the years go by and it shows up in every kind of way.
- We're becoming sytematically driven into the ground. Bad taste becomes the order of the day, and people who object to it, schumcks like me, are suddenly spoilsports.
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