Lee Erwin (September 12, 1906, in

Ada, Oklahoma Ada is a city in and the county seat of Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,481 at the 2020 United States census. The city was named for Ada Reed, the daughter of an early settler, and was in ...

- June 4, 1972 in

Los Angeles, California 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, ...

) was a

television writer 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 ...

from the 1950s to the 1970s. Erwin wrote for '' Mr. & Mrs. North'', '' The Millionaire'', '' Have Gun, Will Travel'', '' The New Adventures of Charlie Chan'' and many other 1950s and 1960s TV shows. He is probably best known for his ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' episode " Whom Gods Destroy", and his two-part ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

'' episode "The Deadly Silence". His episode of ''

The Lieutenant ''The Lieutenant'' is an American television program, television series, the first created by Gene Roddenberry. An hour-long drama, it aired on NBC on Saturday evenings in the 1963–1964 television schedule. It was produced by Arena Product ...

'', " To Set It Right", was controversial behind the scenes because the subject matter, racial prejudice, was taboo for entertainment television at the time. Despite claims that it never aired,

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 ...

said it did, and the segment was reviewed by ''Daily Variety''. The episode was included in the 2012 DVD set The Lieutenant: The Complete Series, Part 2, from Warner Media, and a copy exists at The Paley Center for Media. Erwin's last work for television was the script for the ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...

'' episode "Writing the President" (1971).

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* 1906 births 1972 deaths People from Ada, Oklahoma American television writers American male screenwriters American male television writers Screenwriters from Oklahoma 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters {{US-tv-writer-stub