John Meredyth Lucas (May 1, 1919 – October 19, 2002) was an American
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...
,
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 ...
and
producer, primarily for television.
Career
Son of screenwriter
Bess Meredyth
Bess Meredyth (born Helen Elizabeth MacGlashan, February 12, 1890 – July 13, 1969) was a screenwriter and silent film actress. The wife of film director Michael Curtiz, Meredyth wrote '' The Affairs of Cellini'' (1934) and adapted '' The Unsus ...
and writer/director
Wilfred Lucas
Wilfred Van Norman Lucas (January 30, 1871 – December 13, 1940) was a Canadian American stage actor who found success in film as an actor, director, and screenwriter.
Early life
Lucas was born in Norfolk County, Ontario on January 30, 1871,US ...
, and the adopted son of director
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz (; born Manó Kaminer; from 1905 Mihály Kertész; ; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed classic films from the silen ...
, Lucas grew up in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
, where he attended a number of schools, including
Urban Military Academy
Urban Military Academy was a boarding and day school in Hollywood, California, for boys between the ages of six and fifteen. It was founded in 1905 by Mary McDonnell on Melrose Avenue at Wilcox; it later moved to 11600 Sunset Boulevard. At the tim ...
,
Pacific Military Academy
Cheviot Hills Military Academy operated as a K–9 military school from 1946 to 1952. Founded by Frank J. Brick, it was established on the premises of the former Pacific Military Academy in Culver City, California. The school was affiliated wi ...
, and
Beverly Hills High School
Beverly Hills High School (shortly as BHHS or Beverly) is a public high school in Beverly Hills, California. The other public high school in Beverly Hills is Moreno High School, a small alternative school located on Beverly Hills High School's c ...
. After a failed attempt at college, he began his Hollywood career with a job as an apprentice script clerk at
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
.
He is best remembered for the work he did on ''
Star Trek: The Original Series'' as a writer, producer and director. He wrote four of the episodes broadcast from 1967 to 1969: "
The Changeling", "
Patterns of Force", "
Elaan of Troyius
"Elaan of Troyius" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written and directed by John Meredyth Lucas, it was first broadcast on December 20, 1968.
In the episode, the ''E ...
", and "
That Which Survives
"That Which Survives" is the seventeenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by John Meredyth Lucas (based on a story by D.C. Fontana under the pseudonym Michael Richards) and di ...
". He also directed three of the episodes broadcast in 1968: "
The Ultimate Computer
"The Ultimate Computer" is the twenty-fourth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by D.C. Fontana (based on a story by Laurence N. Wolfe) and directed by John Meredyth Lucas, it ...
", "
The ''Enterprise'' Incident" and "Elaan of Troyius".
The latter was the only episode in the original series to be directed by its writer. Lucas was credited as producer for the latter part of the
second season (1967–1968).
He also wrote for ''
Mannix
''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that originally aired for eight seasons on CBS from September 16, 1967, to March 13, 1975. The show was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer ...
'', ''
The Fugitive'', ''
The Silent Force
''The Silent Force'' is the third studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation, released on 15 November 2004, by GUN Records. On 5 August 2008, ''The Silent Force'' along with ''Mother Earth (Within Temptation album), Mother Eart ...
'', ''
Harry O
''Harry O'', sometimes spelled ''Harry-O'', is an American private detective series that aired for two seasons on ABC from 1974 to 1976. The series starred David Janssen, and Jerry Thorpe was executive producer. ''Harry O'' followed the broad ...
'' (David Janssen's 1970s series),''
The Six Million Dollar Man
''The Six Million Dollar Man'' is an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After being seriously injured in a NASA test f ...
'', and the television adaptations of ''
Planet of the Apes
''Planet of the Apes'' is a science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic world in which humans and intelligent apes c ...
'' and ''
Logan's Run
''Logan's Run'' is a science fiction novel by American writers William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, the novel depicts a dystopic Malthusian future society in which both population and the consumption of resources ...
''. ''
Dark City'' (1950) and ''
Peking Express
''Peking Express'' is a Dutch–Flemish reality game show that follows a series of couples as they hitchhike to or from Beijing (only in the first three seasons; the following seasons are set elsewhere around the world). The series, first broad ...
'' (1951) were among his feature film writing credits.
During 1959–1960 he worked in Australia on the TV series ''
Whiplash'', directing numerous episodes of the series (several of which were written by later ''Star Trek'' creator
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter and producer who created the science fiction series and fictional universe ''Star Trek.'' Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up ...
).
In 1951 he married Australian born actress
Joan Winfield
Joan Winfield (born Joan Marie Therese MacGillicuddy; 24 September 1918 – 16 June 1978) was an Australian-born actress and talented violinist, who appeared in Hollywood films in the 1940s, mostly in uncredited roles. She married director ...
. Together they raised three children. After her death in 1978, he remarried. He died in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
on 19 October 2002 from
leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...
. After his death in 2002, he was cremated and his ashes were later launched into space on a suborbital flight in 2007. They were subsequently launched on an orbital flight on August 2, 2008, however the rocket failed two minutes after launch.
Star Trek episode credits
* 1967 – “
Obsession
Obsession may refer to:
Psychology
* Celebrity worship syndrome, obsessive addictive disorder to a celebrity's personal and professional life
* Obsession (psychology), a persistent attachment to an object or idea
* Fixation (psychology), persist ...
” – (Producer)
* 1967 – "
The Changeling" – (writer)
* 1967 – "
Journey to Babel
"Journey to Babel" is the tenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by D. C. Fontana and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on November 17, 1967.
In the episod ...
" – (producer)
* 1968 – "
The Gamesters of Triskelion
"The Gamesters of Triskelion" is the sixteenth episode of the Star Trek: The Original Series season 2, second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek''. Written by Margaret Armen and di ...
" – (producer)
* 1968 – "
A Piece of the Action" – (producer)
* 1968 – "
Patterns of Force" – (writer)
* 1968 – "
The Ultimate Computer
"The Ultimate Computer" is the twenty-fourth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by D.C. Fontana (based on a story by Laurence N. Wolfe) and directed by John Meredyth Lucas, it ...
" – (director)
* 1968 – "
The ''Enterprise'' Incident" – (director)
* 1968 – "
Return to Tomorrow
"Return to Tomorrow" is the twentieth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by John T. Dugan (under the pen-name "John Kingsbridge") and directed by Ralph Senensky, it was first ...
" – (producer)
* 1968 – "
Elaan of Troyius
"Elaan of Troyius" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written and directed by John Meredyth Lucas, it was first broadcast on December 20, 1968.
In the episode, the ''E ...
" – (writer and director)
* 1969 – "
That Which Survives
"That Which Survives" is the seventeenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by John Meredyth Lucas (based on a story by D.C. Fontana under the pseudonym Michael Richards) and di ...
" – (teleplay)
Filmography
Films
Television
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, John Meredyth
1919 births
2002 deaths
American television directors
American television producers
American television writers
American male television writers
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters