Irwin Allen - Producer, Director, Creator
There are many reasons the Science Fiction genre exists today in television and film. Irwin Allen happens to be one of the very important ones. His work remained totally underrated over the years.
It wasn't until the past decade when Irwin's great creations became widely noticed and appreciated. Lost In Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Land of the Giants garner more recognition today than ever before, and rightly so.
Irwin was born on June 12, 1916, and the day of his birth became a trademark in his creations - the number "12" became a significant factor in the dates of departure and flight numbers in his series.
In 1938, Irwin became editor of "Key Magazine," and within a year, he had tapped into other areas of media. He produced a one-hour radio show for KLAC; he wrote, produced and narrated a program which ran for 11 years. He was a journalist, and that career paid off with an offer to write "Hollywood Merry-Go-Round," a regular column for the Atlas Feature Syndicate. In 1944, Irwin established a literary agency to represent writers in the radio and film industries. Some of his clients included P. G. Woodhouse, romantic novelist Fanny Hurst and writer/critic Ben Hecht.
With immense exposure to the film industry, Irwin was soon drawn into production in the early fifties. Double Dynamite was his first production (for RKO), starring Frank Sinatra and Groucho Marx. Irwin's documentary production of Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us, which follows undersea expeditions, won him the 1952 Oscar for the Best Documentary Feature.
Irwin's film and TV credits are lengthy. As stated on IANN website, "His tragic death on 2nd November 1991, just a few days after 'Star Trek' producer, Gene Roddenberry, passed away, meant that science fiction had lost two of its greatest geniuses."
Irwin Allen Films on Television this month
Irwin Allen Starlog Tribute
Irwin Allen signed index card. With many thanks to Linda Delaney for this item.
