Who is left from The Twilight Zone?

[Milestones]

It is now 65 years since the debut of The Twilight Zone.  My interest is almost entirely with the original series, which is one of the great classics of TV.

I am curious as to which actors who appeared on the show are still alive.  Offhand, I can only think of Jean Marsh (age 90), Robert Redford (well into his 80s), and two child actors: Bill Mumy and Ron Howard.

 

 

[rostasi]

I'd say Shatner, Takei and Veronica Cartwright just off the top of my head.

I was named after Serling - and the debut episode was on my first birthday.

[B. Clugston]

Robert Duvall, too. Earl Holliman, 96, is also still around.

[rostasi]

I think Shelley Fabares is still alive...

(I had to check if Lloyd Bochner and Cliff Robertson were still alive. They're not).

Edited September 20, 2024 by rostasi

[Milestones]

I was certainly working off the top of my head.

Yes, Captain Kirk (pre-Captain Kirk).  And Takei from a little-seen episode, though IMO a good one.

Holliman...from the first episode.

[felser]

4 minutes ago, Milestones said:

And Takei from a little-seen episode, though IMO a good one.

It is a good one, though quite shocking and upsetting in some ways.  Very thought-provoking.

[Milestones]

Two more:

Vera Miles (95)

Carol Burnett (91)

 

 

 

[Dan Gould]

Which episode is Takei in?  I know I could go searching but ... please enlighten me cause its not ringing bells and "little seen" whets my curiosity a little more.

[Milestones]

"The Encounter" from the 5th season and very near the end. It deals with racism as Takei plays a Japanese-American encountering a WW2 vet. It's about our tendency to automatically hate. Takei and Neville Brand are the sole actors in this episode.

 

[Teasing the Korean]

I assume that all of the composers have died, though there are a few I would need to look up to be sure.

[gvopedz]

27 minutes ago, Milestones said:

"The Encounter" from the 5th season and very near the end. It deals with racism as Takei plays a Japanese-American encountering a WW2 vet. It's about our tendency to automatically hate. 

Takei and his family were placed in a camp for Japanese-Americans during WWII.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2019/12/04/george-takeis-familys-japanese-american-internment-nightmare/

[Teasing the Korean]

2 hours ago, B. Clugston said:

Robert Duvall, too. Earl Holliman, 96, is also still around.

And Earl stars in the first episode!

[Teasing the Korean]

Here are the 19 composers who composed original scores for The Twilight Zone, followed by the number of episodes they scored. 

All are gone.  Tommy Morgan made it to 2022, and Henri Lanoe, whom I never heard of, died this year.

• Nathan Van Cleave (12)
• Bernard Herrmann (7)
• Jerry Goldsmith (7)
• Fred Steiner (7)
• Rene Garriguenc (4)
• Tommy Morgan (3)
• Jeff Alexander (2)
• Lucien Moraweck (2)
• Nathan Scott (2)
• Leonard Rosenman (1)
• Robert Drasnin (1)
• Franz Waxman (1)
• Leith Stevens (1)
• Lyn Murray (1)
• Wilbur Hatch (1)
• William Lava (1)
• Richard Shores (1)
• Henri Lanoe (1)
• Laurindo Almeida (1)

[Milestones]

You are quite the authority.  I have studied The Twilight Zone extensively, but my knowledge on the music scores is nothing compared to yours.

As in so many others areas, the music on the show was high quality.  

 

 

 

[Teasing the Korean]

7 minutes ago, Milestones said:

You are quite the authority.  I have studied The Twilight Zone extensively, but my knowledge on the music scores is nothing compared to yours.

As in so many others areas, the music on the show was high quality.  

Well, there was some copying and pasting going on, so I don't think that makes me an authority.  

But, I do have the 4-CD set of TZ music (original recordings), along with the 2-CD set of Herrmann's scores (re-recordings), so yes, I have immersed myself in this music, as I have with the show.  I agree that TZ had some of the best music ever composed for television, and it was my introduction to several of these composers. 

[mjzee]

Coincidentally (although, given the subject, are there really any coincidences?), a statue of Rod Serling was just unveiled in Binghamton, NY, his hometown:

https://wrrv.com/rod-serling-binghamton/

[GA Russell]

Do you recall the episode Laurindo Almeida worked on?

[Teasing the Korean]

8 hours ago, GA Russell said:

Do you recall the episode Laurindo Almeida worked on?

It takes place in Mexico, and IIRC uses a lot of Spanish guitar. 

[Ken Dryden]

I got to hear Rod Serling in person at Tulane in 1974, the year before his premature death. It was a memorable evening and he had a great sense of humor, although one of the funniest things was his reaction to the audience’s response to his opening “Good evening.”

I have the Zicree book, his daughter’s memoir and all five seasons of The Twilight Zone on DVD. I pass on the attempted reboots due to their bad rewriting and the lack of his presence.

[rostasi]

8 hours ago, GA Russell said:

Do you recall the episode Laurindo Almeida worked on?

It was on "The Gift" from Season 3.

[Teasing the Korean]

For as much as I've watched this show, and for as long as I've watched this show, I still occasionally stumble across an episode I've never seen before.  It's like they are still being produced in the 4th dimension and secretly delivered to the Syfy channel.  

[GA Russell]

6 hours ago, rostasi said:

It was on "The Gift" from Season 3.

Thanks rostasi!  I'll look at Wikipedia for it.

7 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

It takes place in Mexico, and IIRC uses a lot of Spanish guitar. 

Thanks TTK!

[gmonahan]

Somewhat off topic, but Serling wrote the screenplay for "Seven Days in May," a wonderful movie!

[rostasi]

His writing for Planet of the Apes really made the
movie the shocking success it was back in '68.

[medjuck]

IIRC in the '50s he was known as a "serious" writer of such tv productions as "Requiem for a Heavy Weight" and "Patterns" (both I think originally on "Studio One").  He's also the screenwriter for the fairly bad "Assault on a Queen" which I've  studied  because of the (butchered) score by Ellington.