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{{short description|American screenwriter}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
|name=Gilbert Ralston
|name=Gilbert Ralston
|birth_name=Gilbert Alexander Ralston
|birth_name=Gilbert Alexander Ralston
|birth_date={{birth date|1912|1|5}}
|birth_date={{birth date|1912|1|5}}
|birth_place=[[Newcastle, County Down|Newcastle]], [[Ireland]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]
|birth_place=[[Newcastle, County Down|Newcastle]], Ireland
|death_date={{death date and age|1999|3|18|1912|1|5}}
|death_date={{death date and age|1999|3|18|1912|1|5}}
|death_place=[[Mount Pleasant, South Carolina|Mount Pleasant]], [[South Carolina]], [[United States]]
|death_place=[[Mount Pleasant, South Carolina|Mount Pleasant]], [[South Carolina]], [[United States]]
Line 9: Line 12:
}}
}}


'''Gilbert Alexander Ralston''' (January 5, 1912 – March 18, 1999) was a British-American [[screenwriter]],<ref name=NYT>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/1111893/Gilbert-Ralston/filmography|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Gilbert Ralston}}</ref> [[journalist]] and [[author]]. He was a television producer in the 1950s and a screenwriter in the 1960s. He created the television series ''[[The Wild Wild West]]'' and wrote scripts for ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'', ''[[Gunsmoke]]'', ''[[Ben Casey]]'', ''[[I Spy (1965 TV series)|I Spy]]'',<ref name=NYT/> ''[[Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series)|Hawaii Five-O]]'', and ''[[Naked City (TV series)|Naked City]]''. He wrote the screenplay for the 1971 movie ''[[Willard (1971 film)|Willard]]'',<ref name=NYT2>{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Willard (1971) Screen: Affinity for Rats:Davison Plays Lead in Horror Film 'Willard'|authorlink=Vincent Canby|first=Vincent|last=Canby|date=June 19, 1971|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D01EEDE1238EF34BC4152DFB066838A669EDE}}</ref> which was based on the 1968 novel ''[[Ratman's Notebooks]]'' written by [[Stephen Gilbert (novelist)|Stephen Gilbert]].<ref name=NYT2/>
'''Gilbert Alexander Ralston''' (January 5, 1912 – March 18, 1999) was a British-American [[screenwriter]],<ref name=NYT>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/1111893/Gilbert-Ralston/filmography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111231647/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/1111893/Gilbert-Ralston/filmography|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-01-11|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|publisher=[[Baseline (database)|Baseline]] & [[All Movie Guide]]|date=2014|title=Gilbert Ralston}}</ref> [[journalist]] and [[author]]. He was a television producer in the 1950s and a screenwriter in the 1960s. He created the television series ''[[The Wild Wild West]]'' and wrote scripts for ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'', ''[[Gunsmoke]]'', ''[[Ben Casey]]'', ''[[I Spy (1965 TV series)|I Spy]]'',<ref name=NYT/> ''[[Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series)|Hawaii Five-O]]'' and ''[[Naked City (TV series)|Naked City]]''. He wrote the screenplay for the 1971 movie ''[[Willard (1971 film)|Willard]]'',<ref name=NYT2>{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Willard (1971) Screen: Affinity for Rats:Davison Plays Lead in Horror Film 'Willard'|authorlink=Vincent Canby|first=Vincent|last=Canby|date=June 19, 1971|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D01EEDE1238EF34BC4152DFB066838A669EDE}}</ref> which was based on the 1968 novel ''[[Ratman's Notebooks]]'' written by [[Stephen Gilbert (novelist)|Stephen Gilbert]].<ref name=NYT2/>


==Early life and career==
==Early life and career==
Ralston was born in 1912 in [[Newcastle, County Down|Newcastle]], [[Ireland]] (now [[Northern Ireland]]) in the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] (now the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]])
Ralston was born in 1912 in [[Newcastle, County Down|Newcastle]], [[Ireland]].


In the 1950s he worked as a television producer in the United States. In the 1960s, he worked as a television screenwriter, according to the [[IMDb]] website. ''Willard'' was nominated for an [[Edgar Allan Poe Award]] in 1972 for Best Motion Picture.
In the 1950s he worked as a television producer in the United States. In the 1960s, he worked as a television screenwriter, according to the [[IMDb]] website. ''Willard'' was nominated for an [[Edgar Allan Poe Award]] in 1972 for Best Motion Picture.


He died on March 18, 1999, in [[Mount Pleasant, South Carolina]], of [[congestive heart failure]].
He died on March 18, 1999, in [[Mount Pleasant, South Carolina]], of [[congestive heart failure]].


==Television screenwriter==
==Television screenwriter==
⚫
Ralston was a screenwriter for many of the top television shows in the United States in the 1960s. He wrote the script for the 1967 ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' episode "[[Who Mourns for Adonais?]]", which is a line from ''[[Adonais]]'' (1821), the elegiac poem by [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]]. He also wrote scripts for ''Ben Casey'', ''Laredo'', ''I Spy,'' ''The Big Valley'', ''Gunsmoke'', ''The Naked City'', ''Combat'', ''Hawaii Five-O'' and ''The Wild Wild West''


⚫
==''The Wild Wild West''==
⚫
Ralston was a screenwriter for many of the top television shows in the United States in the 1960s. He wrote the 1967 ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' episode "[[Who Mourns for Adonais?]]", which is a line from the 1821 elegiac poem by [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]], ''Adonais''. He also wrote scripts for ''Ben Casey'', ''Laredo'', ''I Spy,'' ''The Big Valley'', ''Gunsmoke'', ''The Naked City'', ''Combat'', ''Hawaii Five-''O, and ''The Wild Wild West''
⚫
Ralston helped create the television series ''[[The Wild Wild West]]'' and wrote the pilot episode, "The Night of the Inferno". In 1997, at the age of 85, Ralston sued [[Warner Brothers]] over the upcoming motion picture based on the series (''[[Wild Wild West]]'' was released in 1999). In a deposition, Ralston explained that, in 1964, he was approached by producer Michael Garrison, who '"said he had an idea for a series, good commercial idea, and wanted to know if I could glue the idea of a [[Western (genre)|western]] hero and a [[James Bond]] type together in the same show."<ref>''[[The New York Times]]'', 8 July 1999</ref>


⚫
Ralston said he then created the Civil War characters, the format, the story outline and nine drafts of the script that was the basis for the television series. It was his idea, for example, to have a secret agent named Jim West who would perform secret missions for U.S. President [[Ulysses S. Grant]].
⚫
==''Wild Wild West''==
⚫
Ralston helped create the television series ''[[The Wild Wild West]]'' and wrote the pilot episode, "The Night of the Inferno". In 1997, aged 85, Ralston sued [[Warner Brothers]] over the upcoming motion picture based on the series. (''[[Wild Wild West]]'' was released in 1999.) In a deposition, Ralston explained that in 1964 he was approached by producer Michael Garrison who '"said he had an idea for a series, good commercial idea, and wanted to know if I could glue the idea of a [[Western (genre)|western]] hero and a [[James Bond]] type together in the same show."<ref>The New York Times, 8 July 1999</ref>


⚫
Ralston's experience brought to light a common Hollywood practice of the 1950s and 1960s, where television writers who helped create popular series allowed producers or studios to take credit for said series, thus depriving the writers of any royalties.
⚫
Ralston said he then created the Civil War characters, the format, the story outline and nine drafts of the script that was the basis for the television series. It was his idea, for example, to have a secret agent named Jim West who would perform secret missions for President [[Ulysses S. Grant]].

⚫
Ralston's experience brought to light a common Hollywood practice of the 1950s and 60s when television writers who helped create popular series allowed producers or studios to take credit for a show, thus depriving the writers of any royalties.


==Outcome of court case==
==Outcome of court case==
Ralston died in 1999, before his suit was settled. Warner Brothers ended up paying Ralston's family between $600,000 and $1.5 million.<ref>''The Wall Street Journal'', 15 July 2005</ref>
Ralston died in 1999 before his lawsuit was settled. Warner Brothers ended up paying Ralston's family between $600,000 and $1.5 million.<ref>''The Wall Street Journal'', 15 July 2005</ref>


==Filmography==
==Filmography==
Line 41: Line 43:
| 1968
| 1968
|''[[Kona Coast (film)|Kona Coast]]''
|''[[Kona Coast (film)|Kona Coast]]''
|Written By
|Written by
|
|
|-
|-
| rowspan=2|1971
| rowspan=2|1971
|''[[The Hunting Party (1971 film)|The Hunting Party]]''
|''[[The Hunting Party (1971 film)|The Hunting Party]]''
|Written By
|Written by
|
|
|-
|-
|''[[Willard (1971 film)|Willard]]''
|''[[Willard (1971 film)|Willard]]''
|Screenplay By
|Screenplay by
|Based on the novel "[[Ratman's Notebooks]]" by "[[Stephen Gilbert (novelist)|Stephen Gilbert]]"
|based on the novel ''[[Ratman's Notebooks]]'' by [[Stephen Gilbert (novelist)|Stephen Gilbert]]
|-
|-
| 1972
| 1972
|''[[Ben (film)|Ben]]''
|''[[Ben (film)|Ben]]''
|Written By
|Written by
|based on characters created by Stephen Gilbert
|
|-
|-
| 1976
| 1976
|''[[Special Delivery (1976 film)|Special Delivery]]''
|''[[Special Delivery (1976 film)|Special Delivery]]''
|Written By
|Written by
|
|
|-
|-
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{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
! Year !! TV Series !! Credit !! Notes
! Year !! TV series !! Credit !! Notes
|-
|-
| 1952-53
| 1952-53
|''[[Your Jeweler's Showcase]]''
|''[[Your Jeweler's Showcase]]''
|Producer
|Producer
|28 Episodes
|28 episodes
|-
|-
| 1952-54
| 1952-54
|''[[Cavalcade of America]]''
|''[[Cavalcade of America]]''
|Producer
|Producer
|14 Episodes
|14 episodes
|-
|-
| 1953
| 1953
|''[[General Electric Theater]]''
|''[[General Electric Theater]]''
|Producer
|Producer
|12 Episodes
|12 episodes
|-
|-
| 1955-57
| 1955-57
|''[[Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion]]''
|''[[Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion]]''
|Producer, Executive Producer
|Producer, Executive Producer
|37 Episodes
|37 episodes
|-
|-
| 1957
| 1957
Line 98: Line 100:
|''[[Bus Stop (TV series)|Bus Stop]]''
|''[[Bus Stop (TV series)|Bus Stop]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
| 1961-62
| 1961-62
|''[[Naked City (TV series)|Naked City]]''
|''[[Naked City (TV series)|Naked City]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|7 Episodes
|7 episodes
|-
|-
| 1961-64
| 1961-64
|''[[Ben Casey]]''
|''[[Ben Casey]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|16 Episodes
|16 episodes
|-
|-
| rowspan=2|1962
| rowspan=2|1962
|''[[Route 66 (TV series)|Route 66]]''
|''[[Route 66 (TV series)|Route 66]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
|''[[Target: The Corruptors!]]''
|''[[Target: The Corruptors!]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
| 1962-63
| 1962-63
|''[[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]''
|''[[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|2 Episodes
|2 episodes
|-
|-
| rowspan=2|1963
| rowspan=2|1963
|''[[Alcoa Premiere]]''
|''[[Alcoa Premiere]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
|''[[Wide Country (TV series)|Wide Country]]''
|''[[Wide Country (TV series)|Wide Country]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
| rowspan=2|1964
| rowspan=2|1964
|''[[The Richard Boone Show]]''
|''[[The Richard Boone Show]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
|''[[Suspense (American TV series)|Suspense]]''
|''[[Suspense (American TV series)|Suspense]]''
|Producer
|Producer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
| rowspan=8|1965
| rowspan=8|1965
|''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]''
|''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
|''[[Burke's Law (1963 TV series)|Burke's Law]]''
|''[[Burke's Law (1963 TV series)|Burke's Law]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
|''[[Gunsmoke]]''
|''[[Gunsmoke]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
|''[[I Spy (1965 TV series)|I Spy]]''
|''[[I Spy (1965 TV series)|I Spy]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|2 Episodes
|2 episodes
|-
|-
|''[[Mr. Novak]]''
|''[[Mr. Novak]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
|''[[Slattery's People]]''
|''[[Slattery's People]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
|''[[The Wild Wild West]]''
|''[[The Wild Wild West]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
|''[[12 O'Clock High (TV series)|12 O'Clock High]]''
|''[[12 O'Clock High (TV series)|12 O'Clock High]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
| rowspan=2|1966
| rowspan=2|1966
|''[[Combat!]]''
|''[[Combat!]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
|''[[Laredo (TV series)|Laredo]]''
|''[[Laredo (TV series)|Laredo]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
| 1966-67
| 1966-67
|''[[The Big Valley]]''
|''[[The Big Valley]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|3 Episodes
|3 episodes
|-
|-
| rowspan=3|1967
| rowspan=3|1967
|''[[Insight (TV series)|Insight]]''
|''[[Insight (American TV series)|Insight]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
|''[[Iron Horse (TV series)|Iron Horse]]''
|''[[Iron Horse (TV series)|Iron Horse]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|2 Episodes
|2 episodes
|-
|-
|''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]''
|''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
| 1967-68
| 1967-68
|''[[Gentle Ben]]''
|''[[Gentle Ben]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|5 Episodes
|5 episodes
|-
|-
| 1968
| 1968
|''[[Land of the Giants]]''
|''[[Land of the Giants]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
| rowspan=2|1969
| rowspan=2|1969
|''[[Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series)|Hawaii Five-O]]''
|''[[Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series)|Hawaii Five-O]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
|''[[The Name of the Game (TV series)|The Name of the Game]]''
|''[[The Name of the Game (TV series)|The Name of the Game]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
| 1971
| 1971
|''[[O'Hara, U.S. Treasury]]''
|''[[O'Hara, U.S. Treasury]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|2 Episodes
|2 episodes
|-
|-
| 1972
| 1972
|''[[Nichols (TV series)|Nichols]]''
|''[[Nichols (TV series)|Nichols]]''
|Writer
|Writer
|1 Episode
|1 episode
|-
|-
|}
|}
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[[Category:British male screenwriters]]
[[Category:British male screenwriters]]
[[Category:American television writers]]
[[Category:American television writers]]
[[Category:British emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Emigrants from Northern Ireland to the United States]]
[[Category:People from County Down]]
[[Category:Writers from County Down]]
[[Category:People from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina]]
[[Category:People from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina]]
[[Category:British expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:American male television writers]]
[[Category:American male television writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
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[[Category:20th-century American screenwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century American screenwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century British screenwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century British screenwriters]]
[[Category:Deaths from congestive heart failure]]
[[Category:People from Newcastle, County Down]]

Latest revision as of 08:00, 9 January 2024

Gilbert Ralston
Born
Gilbert Alexander Ralston

(1912-01-05)January 5, 1912
Newcastle, Ireland
DiedMarch 18, 1999(1999-03-18) (aged 87)
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, United States
OccupationScreenwriter

Gilbert Alexander Ralston (January 5, 1912 – March 18, 1999) was a British-American screenwriter,[1] journalist and author. He was a television producer in the 1950s and a screenwriter in the 1960s. He created the television series The Wild Wild West and wrote scripts for Star Trek, Gunsmoke, Ben Casey, I Spy,[1] Hawaii Five-O and Naked City. He wrote the screenplay for the 1971 movie Willard,[2] which was based on the 1968 novel Ratman's Notebooks written by Stephen Gilbert.[2]

Early life and career

[edit]

Ralston was born in 1912 in Newcastle, Ireland.

In the 1950s he worked as a television producer in the United States. In the 1960s, he worked as a television screenwriter, according to the IMDb website. Willard was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1972 for Best Motion Picture.

He died on March 18, 1999, in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, of congestive heart failure.

Television screenwriter

[edit]

Ralston was a screenwriter for many of the top television shows in the United States in the 1960s. He wrote the script for the 1967 Star Trek episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?", which is a line from Adonais (1821), the elegiac poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley. He also wrote scripts for Ben Casey, Laredo, I Spy, The Big Valley, Gunsmoke, The Naked City, Combat, Hawaii Five-O and The Wild Wild West

The Wild Wild West

[edit]

Ralston helped create the television series The Wild Wild West and wrote the pilot episode, "The Night of the Inferno". In 1997, at the age of 85, Ralston sued Warner Brothers over the upcoming motion picture based on the series (Wild Wild West was released in 1999). In a deposition, Ralston explained that, in 1964, he was approached by producer Michael Garrison, who '"said he had an idea for a series, good commercial idea, and wanted to know if I could glue the idea of a western hero and a James Bond type together in the same show."[3]

Ralston said he then created the Civil War characters, the format, the story outline and nine drafts of the script that was the basis for the television series. It was his idea, for example, to have a secret agent named Jim West who would perform secret missions for U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant.

Ralston's experience brought to light a common Hollywood practice of the 1950s and 1960s, where television writers who helped create popular series allowed producers or studios to take credit for said series, thus depriving the writers of any royalties.

Outcome of court case

[edit]

Ralston died in 1999 before his lawsuit was settled. Warner Brothers ended up paying Ralston's family between $600,000 and $1.5 million.[4]

Filmography

[edit]

Films

[edit]
Year Film Credit Notes
1968 Kona Coast Written by
1971 The Hunting Party Written by
Willard Screenplay by based on the novel Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert
1972 Ben Written by based on characters created by Stephen Gilbert
1976 Special Delivery Written by

Television

[edit]
Year TV series Credit Notes
1952-53 Your Jeweler's Showcase Producer 28 episodes
1952-54 Cavalcade of America Producer 14 episodes
1953 General Electric Theater Producer 12 episodes
1955-57 Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion Producer, Executive Producer 37 episodes
1957 High Adventure with Lowell Thomas Producer
1961 Bus Stop Autor 1 episode
1961-62 Naked City Autor 7 episodes
1961-64 Ben Casey Autor 16 episodes
1962 Route 66 Autor 1 episode
Target: The Corruptors! Autor 1 episode
1962-63 The Untouchables Autor 2 episodes
1963 Alcoa Premiere Autor 1 episode
Wide Country Autor 1 episode
1964 The Richard Boone Show Autor 1 episode
Suspense Producer 1 episode
1965 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Autor 1 episode
Burke's Law Autor 1 episode
Gunsmoke Autor 1 episode
I Spy Autor 2 episodes
Mr. Novak Autor 1 episode
Slattery's People Autor 1 episode
The Wild Wild West Autor 1 episode
12 O'Clock High Autor 1 episode
1966 Combat! Autor 1 episode
Laredo Autor 1 episode
1966-67 The Big Valley Autor 3 episodes
1967 Insight Autor 1 episode
Iron Horse Autor 2 episodes
Star Trek Autor 1 episode
1967-68 Gentle Ben Autor 5 episodes
1968 Land of the Giants Autor 1 episode
1969 Hawaii Five-O Autor 1 episode
The Name of the Game Autor 1 episode
1971 O'Hara, U.S. Treasury Autor 2 episodes
1972 Nichols Autor 1 episode

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Gilbert Ralston". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2014. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014.
  2. ^ a b Canby, Vincent (19 June 1971). "Willard (1971) Screen: Affinity for Rats:Davison Plays Lead in Horror Film 'Willard'". The New York Times.
  3. ^ The New York Times, 8 July 1999
  4. ^ The Wall Street Journal, 15 July 2005
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gilbert_Ralston&oldid=1194498413"