“Imagination... its limits are only
those of the mind itself.” – Rod Serling
Serling, who was born in Syracuse,
NY, on Christmas Day in 1924, had indeed a vast and multi-talented imagination,
producing some of the most creative and lasting pieces ever written for radio,
television, the big screen and the Broadway stage.
Known best for his live television
dramas of the 1950s and his science-fiction anthology TV series The Twilight
Zone, Serling also was active in politics, both on and off the screen, and
helped form television industry standards. He was known as “the angry young man"
of Hollywood, clashing with television executives and sponsors over a wide
range of issues including censorship, racism, and war.
A World War II Army veteran who was badly wounded, Serling had strong opinions
about war and the use of military force and became one of the most outspoken
activists against war during the tumultuous 1960s and early 1970s – up until
his sudden death in 1975 at age 50. His
lead-in piece to what would become The
Twilight Zone actually dealt with America’s entrance into World War
II. His story concerned a man who has
vivid nightmares of the attack on Pearl Harbor and goes to a psychiatrist. The “twist ending” to the story 
(a device for
which Serling became famous) reveals that the "patient" actually had
died at Pearl Harbor, and the psychiatrist is the one having the vivid
dreams.
Serling had ambitions to be an actor
but “had some things to get off my chest,” which led to his writing career and,
ultimately a place in America’s cultural history. He is indelibly woven into modern popular
culture because of The Twilight Zone. Even youth of today can hum its
haunting theme song, and the title itself is a synonym for all things
unexplainable.
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