LOS ANGELES - Richard Matheson, the prolific science-fiction and fantasy writer whose I Am Legend and The Shrinking Man were adapted into films, has died. He was 87.
A spokesman for the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films said Matheson died Sunday in Los Angeles. No other details were provided.
With a career spanning more than 60 years, Matheson crafted stories that deftly transitioned from the page to both the big and small screens. Several of his works were adapted into films, including 1953’s Hell House, 1956’s The Shrinking Man, 1958’s A Stir of Echoes and 1978’s What Dreams May Come.
Matheson’s 1954 sci-fi vampire novel I Am Legend inspired three different film adaptations: 1964’s The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price,1971’s Omega Man starring Charlton Heston and 2007’s I Am Legend starring Will Smith.
Matheson was also responsible for writing several episodes of The Twilight Zone, as well as editions of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, The Martian Chronicles and Amazing Stories. His Twilight Zone installments included “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” which featured William Shatner as an airplane passenger who spots a creature on a plane’s wing, as well as “Steel,” which inspired the 2011 film Real Steel starring Hugh Jackman.
Matheson influenced several generations of storytellers. Among them were Stephen King, who dedicated his 2006 novel Cell to Matheson, and Steven Spielberg, whose first feature-length film was the made-for-TV movie Duel, based on the Matheson short story of the same name.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 06/26/2013