Iconic television personality Rod Serling lead quite an interesting life. Before he became a live TV anthology narrator, producer, and screenwriter, the The Twilight Zone host was elementary school class clown who enrolled in the U.S. Army the day after high school graduation. He was a paratrooper and a member of the Army demolition squad during World War II and saw the War in the Pacific firsthand while stationed in the Philippines. His wartime combat experiences left him with nightmares and flashbacks and went on to deeply influence his writing for the rest of his life.
When he got back home, Serling used the G.I. Bill’s educational benefits to attend college, where he became involved with the campus radio station. After school he found a job in radio, eventually working his way through the entertainment business to become a TV writer and host of The Twilight Zone, a show that changed the face of scripted television and influences screenwriters to this very day.
Deadline reports a much-deserved biopic is in the works now that Andrew Meieran and his Bureau of Moving Pictures has acquired the rights to the story. Stanley Weiser, who co-wrote Wall Street, is set to script the film. Serling’s widow, Carol Serling, is attached to the project as a co-producer.
“Rod Serling was one of the true visionaries in television history,” Meieran says. “He single-handedly broke the mold and established television as a powerful artistic medium capable of changing the world when used wisely.”
Meieran just wrapped his directing debut, Highland Park. The drama features Danny Glover, Parker Posey, and Billy Burke as a group of lifelong friends who fall victims to budget cuts and lose their jobs.
Is this a case of screenwriters writing about people they look up to, or is Rod Serling’s life story really interesting enough to warrant the Hollywood treatment?