Trapped in the Twilight Zone: The Life and Times of Charles Beaumont

Throughout the fifties and early sixties, Charles Beaumont’s tales of fantasy, horror, suspense and science-fiction established him as a master. It was on The Twilight Zone, the landmark anthology television series, that he achieved his widest recognition as a major contributor. His stories also appeared in magazines as diverse as Playboy, Esquire, The Saturday Evening Post, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. In a career that lasted thirteen years, Beaumont wrote and sold ten books, over seventy short stories, thirteen screenplays (nine of which were produced), two dozen articles, forty comic stories, fourteen columns and over seventy teleplays for primetime television programs. A self-educated man, Beaumont was a motor racing driver, radio announcer, sports car enthusiast, story analyst, film critic, teacher at UCLA, husband and father of four children. In chapters drawn from research, including access to private letters and documents, and interviews with Beaumont’s family, friends and associates, Roger Anker presents a perspective into Beaumont’s life: from his childhood in Chicago and his teenage years in Los Angeles as an actor and illustrator, to his transformation into a fantasist. Anker details Beaumont’s friendships and working relationships with filmmakers Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, George Pal and Roger Corman, writers Rod Serling, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson and Ian Fleming, actor William Shatner, and publisher Hugh Hefner. Authorized by the Beaumont estate, Trapped in the Twilight Zone is a biography of this writer.

Throughout the fifties and early sixties, Charles Beaumont’s tales of fantasy, horror, suspense and science-fiction established him as a master. But it was on a project uniquely suited to his extraordinary imagination that he would achieve his widest recognition: The Twilight Zone, the landmark anthology television series for which he was a major contributor. A virtuoso in prose, his stories also appeared in magazines as diverse as Playboy, Esquire, The Saturday Evening Post, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. In a career that lasted a brief thirteen years, Beaumont juggled countless ideas and projects and approached them all with intense enthusiasm. During his lifetime he’d written and sold ten books, over seventy short stories, thirteen screenplays (nine of which were produced), two dozen articles, forty comic stories, fourteen columns and over seventy teleplays for primetime television programs. A self-educated man, Beaumont lived life on an epic scale: motor racing driver, radio announcer, sports car enthusiast, story analyst, film critic, teacher at UCLA, husband and father of four children — he was all of these. But writing was the driving force which gave ultimate meaning to his life. In vivid chapters drawn from meticulous research, including access to private letters and documents, and interviews with Beaumont’s family, friends and associates, Roger Anker presents an insider’s perspective into Beaumont’s world: from his frequently bedridden childhood in Chicago, his teenage years in Los Angeles as a struggling actor and illustrator, to his transformation into one of the most brilliant fantasists of all time. Anker also reveals Beaumont’s friendships and working relationships with filmmakers Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, George Pal and Roger Corman, writers Rod Serling, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson and Ian Fleming, actor William Shatner, and publisher Hugh Hefner. Authorized by the Beaumont estate, Trapped in the Twilight Zone is the first full-length biography to chronicle the life of this writer, whose stories continue to inspire and entertain today.