Michael Robert Gale (born May 25, 1951) is an American

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

comic book writer A script is a document describing the narrative and dialogue of a comic book in detail. It is the comic book equivalent of a television program teleplay or a film screenplay. In comics, a script may be preceded by a plot outline, and is almost al ...

, film producer and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. He is best known for co-writing the

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985 ...

'' with his writing partner

Robert Zemeckis Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker known for directing and producing a range of successful and influential movies, often blending cutting-edge visual effects with storytelling. He has received several accolades incl ...

. Gale co-produced all three films of the franchise and later served as associate producer of the

animated TV series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can either ...

. Actor

Michael J. Fox Michael Andrew Fox (born June 9, 1961), known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian and American actor and activist. Beginning his career as a child actor in the 1970s, he rose to prominence portraying Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom ...

has referred to Gale as the "gatekeeper of the 'Back to the Future''franchise".

Early life

Gale was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

University City, Missouri University City (colloquially, U. City) is an inner-ring suburb of the city of St. Louis in St. Louis County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was measured at 35,065 by the 2020 census. The city is one of the older suburbs in th ...

; he is the son of Maxine (née Kippel and died in 2010), an art dealer and violinist, and Mark R. Gale (1922–2018), an attorney. Mark Gale was a World War II veteran and later a University City councilman. Bob Gale has two younger brothers: Charlie, who wrote the screenplay for ''

Ernest Scared Stupid ''Ernest Scared Stupid'' is a 1991 American comedy horror film directed by John Cherry. It stars Jim Varney and Eartha Kitt. It is the fifth film to feature the character Ernest P. Worrell, and the fourth film in the ''Ernest'' series, followi ...

'', and Randy. Bob Gale received a B.A. in Cinema in 1973 from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, where he wrote

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

reviews for classmate

Mike Glyer Mike Glyer (born February 16, 1953) is both the editor and publisher of the long-running science fiction fan newszine ''File 770''. He has won the Hugo Award 12 times in two categories: ''File 770'' won the Best Fanzine Hugo in 1984, 1985, 1989 ...

's fanzine, and met Zemeckis, who was his classmate. As a child, Gale dreamed he would one day "go to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and work for

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

", who was his hero. As a teen, he created his own

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

, ''The Green Vomit'', using spirit duplication; he was the co-founder of a popular comic book club in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. Later he and his brother Charlie made their own amateur three-film series parody of the

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...

Commando Cody Commando Cody is the hero in two 12-chapter science fiction serials made by Republic Pictures, played by George Wallace in ''Radar Men from the Moon'' (1952) and Judd Holdren in '' Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe'' (1953). ''Zombi ...

'' serials, using the character name "

Commando Cus Michael Robert Gale (born May 25, 1951) is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, film producer and film director, director. He is best known for co-writing the science fiction comedy film ''Back to the Future'' with his writing partner ...

". The last two films were made in collaboration with Richard Rosenberg. (Rosenberg had taken over the series with the third, 1973's ''Commando Cus vs. Kung Fu Killers'', in which Gale made a cameo appearance as the title character without his face-covering helmet, and was working on a fourth at the time of his death.)

Career

Film

As screenwriters Gale and Zemeckis have collaborated on a number of films including ''

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

'', ''

I Wanna Hold Your Hand "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Recorded on 17 October 1963 and released on 29 November 1963 in the United Kingdom, it was the first Beatles record to be mad ...

'', ''

Used Cars ''Used Cars'' is a 1980 American satirical black comedy film co-written and directed by Robert Zemeckis. The story follows Rudy Russo (Kurt Russell), a devious salesman, working for affable, but monumentally unsuccessful used-car dealer Luke ...

'', and ''

Trespass Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person (see below), trespass to chattels, and trespass to land. Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery ...

''. The last one was set in

East St. Louis, Illinois East St. Louis, also known as ESTL, is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. It is directly across the Mississippi River from downtown St. Louis, Missouri, and the Gateway Arch National Park. East St. Louis is in the Metro East ...

, near Gale's home town. Gale and Zemeckis were nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for their screenplay for ''

''. In 2002, Gale made his debut as a feature-film director with '' Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road''. He had previously directed and written the 20-minute theatrical release '' Mr. Payback: An Interactive Movie''. Gale's other work includes the

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent ...

for his movie ''

'' and he helped develop the unreleased arcade game ''

Tattoo Assassins ''Tattoo Assassins'' is an unreleased fighting game developed by Data East Pinball (currently known as Stern Pinball), the pinball division of Data East for release in arcades. A few prototypes were test-marketed in 1994, but the game was never ...

''. Gale, formerly a member of

Writers Guild of America West The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 me ...

, left and maintained

financial core Financial core (also known as ficore or fi-core) refers to a legal carve-out that permits workers opposed to participating in a labor union to be employed under the benefits of a union's contracts without compelling them to be a member of that unio ...

status in 1990. Gale wrote the book and was a producer for the

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

adaptation of the first ''

'' film, which premiered in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

in 2020, then on the West End in 2021. The musical transferred to

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

in August 2023 and closed in January 2025. The show is touring nationally, with international productions in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Comics

As a teenager, Bob Gale was a regular

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

reader, and his fan letters appeared in ''

Tales of Suspense ''Tales of Suspense'' is the name of an American comic book anthology series, and two one-shot comics, all published by Marvel Comics. The first, which ran from 1959 to 1968, began as a science-fiction anthology that served as a showcase for s ...

'' #98, published in February 1968, and ''

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...

'' #2-3, published in June-July 1968. Gale began writing for comics in the late 90s, and his earliest work includes '' Ant-Man's Big Christmas'' for Marvel and ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'' for

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. In 2001, he had a short run on Marvel's '' Daredevil'' with artists

Phil Winslade Phil Winslade (born 1965) is a British comic book artist. Biography Winslade was born in Surrey in 1965 and spent a lot of time indoors as a child because of a heart murmur. His main source of entertainment were Marvel Comics, Marvel Comics such ...

and Dave Ross. In 2008, Gale worked as one of the writers among the rotating writer/artist teams on ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American superhero American comic book, comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its title character and main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of t ...

'', which at the time was published three times a month. His other work in comics includes the ''

'' monthly series published by

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

. The first issue was released in stores on October 21, 2015, which is the same date that Marty travels with Doc Brown to the future; the comic book is shown as part of the storyline for '' Part II''.

Novels

In 1979, Gale published a novelization of ''1941''. In 2013, he published ''Retribution High'', a novel based on his unproduced screenplay.

Selected filmography

*'' Kolchak: The Night Stalker'' (episode "Chopper", with

, 1975) (TV) *''

'' (with Robert Zemeckis, 1978) *''

'' (with Robert Zemeckis, 1979) *''

'' (with Robert Zemeckis, 1980) *''

'' (with Robert Zemeckis, 1985) *''

Back to the Future Part II ''Back to the Future Part II'' is a 1989 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Bob Gale; both wrote the story. It is a sequel to the 1985 film ''Back to the Future'' and the second installment in the Back ...

'' (with Robert Zemeckis, 1989) *'' Back to the Future Part III'' (with Robert Zemeckis, 1990) *''

'' (with Robert Zemeckis, 1992) *'' Back to the Future: The Animated Series'' (1991–1992) (TV) *''

Tales from the Crypt Tales from the Crypt may refer to: * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (album), by American rapper C-Bo * ''Tales from the Crypt'' (comics), published by EC Comics during the 1950s ** ''Tales from the Crypt'' (film), a 1972 Amicus film starring Ralph Ric ...

'' (episode "House of Horror", also director, 1993) (TV) *'' Mr. Payback: An Interactive Movie'' (also director, 1995) *''

Bordello of Blood ''Tales from the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood'' is a 1996 American horror comedy film directed by Gilbert Adler from a screenplay by Adler and A.L. Katz, and a story by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis. Dennis Miller stars as Rafe Guttman, ...

'' (with Robert Zemeckis, story only, 1996) *'' Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road'' (also director, 2002)

Bibliography

DC Comics

: **''

The Batman Chronicles ''The Batman Chronicles'' is a series of comics published by DC Comics from 1995 to 2001, which lasted 23 quarterly issues. Publication history With a larger page count than typical comics of the time, most issues contained three separate storie ...

'' #10: "To See the Batman" (prose story with illustrations by

Bill Sienkiewicz Boleslav William Felix Robert Sienkiewicz ( ; ; born May 3, 1958) is an American artist known for his work in comic books—particularly for Marvel Comics' ''The New Mutants (comic book), The New Mutants'', ''Moon Knight,'' and ''Elektra: Assassi ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

, 1997) **''Batman: No Man's Land Volume 1'' (tpb, 544 pages, 2011, ) and ''Batman: No Man's Land Omnibus Volume 1'' (hc, 1,136 pages, 2022, ) include: *** '' Batman: No Man's Land'' #1 + '' Batman: Shadow of the Bat'' #83 + ''

'' #563 + ''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' (later retitled as ''Batman Detective Comics'') is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is ...

'' #730: "No Law and a New Order" (with

Alex Maleev Alex Maleev (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: Алекс Малеев) is a Bulgarian comic book illustrator, best known for the Marvel Comics' series ''Daredevil (Marvel Comics series), Daredevil'' (vol. 2) with frequent collaborator Brian Michael ...

, 1999) *** ''

'' #733: "Shades of Grey" (with

, 1999)

Marvel Comics

*'' Ant-Man's Big Christmas'' (with Phil Winslade,

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'', a ...

Marvel Knights Marvel Knights is an imprint of Marvel Comics that contained standalone material taking place inside the Marvel Universe ( Earth-616). The imprint originated in 1998 when Marvel outsourced four titles ('' Black Panther'', '' Punisher'', '' Dared ...

, 2000) *'' Daredevil'' vol. 2 #20–25 (with Phil Winslade and

Dave Ross Dave Ross (born April 10, 1952) is a retired talk show host on Seattle's KIRO-FM radio station. He joined KIRO as a news anchor in 1978 and was given his own talk show in 1987. He has sometimes broadcast his show while on assignment in other l ...

(#23–24), Marvel Knights, 2001) collected in ''Marvel Knights: Daredevil — Unusual Suspects'' (tpb, 472 pages, 2018, ) *

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

: **''

'': *** ''Brand New Day Volume 1'' (hc, 200 pages, 2008, ; tpb, 2008, ) includes: **** "The Astonishing Aunt May!" (with Phil Winslade, co-feature in #546, 2008) *** ''Brand New Day Volume 2'' (hc, 168 pages, 2009, ; tpb, 2008, ) includes: **** "Freak-Out!" (with

Phil Jimenez Phil Jimenez (born July 12, 1970) is an American comics artist and writer known for his work as writer/artist on ''Wonder Woman (comic book), Wonder Woman'' from 2000 to 2003, as one of the five pencilers of the 2005–2006 miniseries ''Infinite C ...

, #552–554, 2008) **** "Freak the Third" (with

Barry Kitson Barry Kitson is a British comic book artist. Biography Kitson's first professional work was ''Spider-Man'' for Marvel UK. He also drew many stories for '' 2000 AD'', beginning with a "Future Shocks" tale written by Peter Milligan as well as o ...

, in #558, 2008) *** ''Brand New Day Volume 3'' (hc, 120 pages, 2008, ; tpb, 2009, ) includes: **** "The Other Spider-Man" (with

Mike McKone Michael McKone is a British comic book artist. Career McKone's first published works for the major companies included ''Justice League of America'' and '' Justice League International'' for DC Comics and '' The Punisher War Zone'' for Marvel C ...

, in #562–563, 2008) *** ''Kraven's First Hunt'' (hc, 112 pages, 2008, ; tpb, 2009, ) includes: **** "Threeway Collision!" (co-written by Gale,

Dan Slott Daniel "Dan" Slott (born July 3, 1967) is an American comic book writer, known for his work on Marvel Comics books such as ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', as well as ''The Superior Spider-Man'', ''She-Hulk'', ''Silver Surfer (comic book), Silver Surfe ...

and

Marc Guggenheim Marc Guggenheim (born September 24, 1970) is an American screenwriter, television producer, comic book writer, and novelist. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''Eli Stone'' (2008–2009), ''Arrow'' (2012–2020), and ''Lege ...

, art by Paulo Siqueira, in #564, 2008) *** ''Died in Your Arms Tonight'' (hc, 192 pages, 2009, ; tpb, 2010, ) includes: **** "If I was Spider-Man..." (with

Mario Alberti Mario Alberti (born 7 May 1965) is an Italian comic book artist and writer known for his works on the collections ''Nathan Never'', ''Legs Weaver'', ''Morgana'' and '' Redhand'', and for his cover work, in particular for DC Comics. Career Alber ...

, co-feature in #600, 2009) *** ''Origin of the Species'' (hc, 232 pages, 2011, ; tpb, 2011, ) includes: **** "Stand Off" (with

Karl Kesel Karl Kesel (; born January 7, 1959) is an American comics writer and inker whose works have primarily been under contract for DC Comics. He is a member of Periscope Studio and is known for his collaborations with fellow artist Tom Grummett on ' ...

, co-feature in #647, 2010) **'' The Amazing Spider-Man Digital'' #1–10: "The Private Life of Peter Parker" (with

Pat Olliffe Patrick Olliffe is an American comic book artist and penciller. His most notable clients include Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Disney Publishing Worldwide, Disney Publishing, and AfterShock Comics, Aftershock Comics. Career Olliffe is best known for ...

, anthology, 2009–2010) *** First published in print as the first four issues of the 5-issue limited series titled ''

Peter Parker Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the Silver Age of ...

'' (2010) *** Collected in ''Spider-Man: Peter Parker'' (tpb, 136 pages, 2010, )

IDW Publishing

*''

'' (scripted by various writers from plots by Gale): **''Back to the Future'' vol. 2 (written by John Barber and Erik Burnham (#1–5), art by various artists, 2015–2017) collected as: *** ''Untold Tales and Alternate Timelines'' (collects #1–5, tpb, 120 pages, 2017, ) *** ''Continuum Conundrum'' (collects #6–11, tpb, 136 pages, 2016, ) *** ''Who is... Marty McFly?'' (collects #12–17, tpb, 136 pages, 2017, ) *** ''Hard Time'' (collects #18–21, tpb, 96 pages, 2017, ) *** ''Time Served'' (collects #22–25, tpb, 104 pages, 2018, ) **''Back to the Future: Citizen Brown'' #1–5 (written by Erik Burnham, drawn by Alan Robinson, 2016) collected as ''Back to the Future: Citizen Brown'' (tpb, 120 pages, 2017, ) **''Back to the Future: Biff to the Future'' #1–6 (written by

Derek Fridolfs Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of Diederik, the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler" or "lead the people". Common variant ...

, drawn by Alan Robinson, 2017) collected as ''Back to the Future: Biff to the Future'' (tpb, 148 pages, 2017, ) **''Back to the Future: Tales from the Time Train'' #1–6 (written by John Barber, drawn by Megan Levens, 2017–2018) collected as ''Back to the Future: Tales from the Time Train'' (tpb, 152 pages, 2018, )

References

External links

*
10 Questions
at

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gale, Bob 1951 births American comics writers American male screenwriters California Republicans Hugo Award–winning writers Living people Writers from St. Louis USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Film producers from Missouri Screenwriters from Missouri Jewish American screenwriters 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews