- BEAUMONT, Charles
- (1929-1967)US story- and scriptwriter, born Charles Leroy Nutt but later legally changing his name to CB; he wrote some non-sf under other names. He began publishing his blend of horror and sf with "The Devil, You Say?" for AMZ in 1951. Most of his work is collected in The Hunger (coll 1957; with title story cut vt Shadow Play 1964 UK), Yonder (coll 1958), Night Ride and Other Journeys (coll 1960), The Magic Man (coll 1965) and The Edge (coll 1966 UK), which reassembles Yonder and Night Ride; posthumously, this material was re-sorted and added to in Best of Beaumont (coll 1982) and Charles Beaumont: Selected Stories (1988; vt The Howling Man 1992). CB's work combines humour and horror in a slick style extremely effective in underlining the grimness of his basic inspiration. As a writer of sf, fantasy and horror movies, he scripted or coscripted Queen of Outer Space (1958), The Premature Burial (1962), Burn, Witch, Burn (1962; vt The Night of the Eagle) - based on Conjure Wife (1943; 1953) by Fritz LEIBER - The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962), The Haunted Palace (1963), The Seven Faces of Dr Lao (1964), The Masque of the Red Death (1964) and BRAIN DEAD (1989). Several of these were directed by Roger CORMAN. His numerous tv scripts include around 19 for The TWILIGHT ZONE . He also collaborated with Chad OLIVER on the brief Claude Adams series (FSF 1955-6) and edited a horror anthology, The Fiend in You (anth 1962). He was struck in 1964 by a savage illness which ravaged and eventually killed him.JCAbout the author: The Work of Charles Beaumont (2nd edn 1990 chap) by William F. NOLAN.
Science Fiction and Fantasy Encyclopedia. Academic. 2011.