Difference between revisions of "Ray Bradbury" - New World Encyclopedia

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==Early Life==
 
==Early Life==
  
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Ray Douglas Bradbury was born in [[Waukegan, Illinois]], the third son to Spaulding Bradbury and Esther Marie Moberg Bradbury. His father worked as a power and telephone [[lineman (occupation)|lineman]] and his mother was an immigrant from [[Sweden|Swedish]]. <ref>Certificate of Birth, Ray Douglas Bradbury, August 22, 1920, Lake County Clerk's Record #4750. Although he was named after Rae Williams, a cousin on his father's side, Ray Bradbury's birth certificate spells his first name as "Ray."</ref>  His childhood consisted of two moves to [[Tucson, Arizona]] (1926-1927 and 1932-1933) as his father looked for work, both times the family returned to Waukegan. It is this small Illinois town that is depicted as "Green Town" in his two semi-autobiographical novels, ''Dandelion Wine'' and ''Something Wicked This Way Comes''. In 1934, the Bradbury made a final move to [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]].
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Ray Douglas Bradbury was born in [[Waukegan, Illinois]], the third son to Spaulding Bradbury and Esther Marie Moberg Bradbury. His father worked as a power and telephone [[lineman (occupation)|lineman]] and his mother was an immigrant from [[Sweden]]. <ref>Certificate of Birth, Ray Douglas Bradbury, August 22, 1920, Lake County Clerk's Record #4750. Although he was named after Rae Williams, a cousin on his father's side, Ray Bradbury's birth certificate spells his first name as "Ray."</ref>  His childhood consisted of two moves to [[Tucson, Arizona]] (1926-1927 and 1932-1933) as his father looked for work, both times the family returned to Waukegan. It was the influence of this small town and Bradbury's his family, along with his extended family and their lives together in Illinois, that gave Bradbury many stories for his future novels. Waukegan is the small Illinois town that is depicted as "Green Town" in his two semi-autobiographical novels, ''Dandelion Wine'' and ''Something Wicked This Way Comes''. In 1934, the Bradburys made a final move to [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]]. Ray would spend much of his time roller skating through Hollywood in search of the many celebrities who lived there. In fact, the radio star George Burns, gave Bradbury his first pay as a writer when Bradbury wrote one of the jokes for Burn's radio show.
  
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Bradbury came from a line of men interested in the written word. Both his paternal grandfather and great-grandfather were newspaper publishers, and Bradbury, himself, began writing stories on spare pieces of butcher paper when he was 11. By the age of twelve, he knew he wanted to be a writer. He never detered from this dream, and when asked what keeps him so young and alert, he answers that he owes it all to doing something he loves every single day. In 1938, Bradbury graduated from [[Los Angeles High School]]. The was the end of any formal education. He did not see the need for college and had no desire to spend the time there. Instead, he began writing everyday, haunting the local library and reading every evening. To provide a living for himself he sold newspapers on various street corners, including the corner of South Norton Avenue and Olympic Boulevard. He did this until 1942.   
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Ray Bradbury came from a line of men interested in the written word. Both his paternal grandfather and great-grandfather were newspaper publishers, and Bradbury, himself, began writing stories on spare pieces of butcher paper when he was 11. By the age of twelve, he knew he wanted to be a writer. He never detered from this dream, and when asked what keeps him so young and alert, he answers that he owes it all to doing something he loves every single day. Ray Bradbury attended [[Los Angeles High School]], where he was influenced greatly by two of his teachers, Snow Longley Housh taught Ray to love poetry and Jeannet Johnson taught him how to write a short story.  Bradbury joined the Poetry Club, and outside of school, he joined the Los Angeles Science Fiction Club. In 1938, Bradbury graduated from High School. The was the end of any formal education. He did not see the need for college and had no desire to spend time there when he already knew what he wanted to do with his life. Instead, he began writing everyday and haunting the local library to read every evening. His first story to be published was "Hollerbochen's Dilemma," (1938). Bradbury also tried his hand at publishing his own magazine, ''Futuria Fantasia'', for which he wrote most of the content, however, he tired of all of the work and stopped the magazine after the fourth issue. To provide a living for himself he sold newspapers on various street corners, including the corner of South Norton Avenue and Olympic Boulevard. He did this until 1942.   
  
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[[science fiction]] heroes like [[Flash Gordon]] and [[Buck Rogers]], he began to [[publish]] science fiction stories in [[fanzine]]s in 1938. His first paid piece was for the [[pulp magazine]] ''Super Science Stories'' in 1941. He became a full-time writer by the end of 1942. His first book, ''[[Dark Carnival]]'', a collection of short works, was published in 1947 by [[Arkham House]]. He married Marguerite McClure (1922–2003) in 1947, and they had four daughters.
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As Ray Bradbury became serious about his writing, he claims that many people and characters inspired him. He loved the [[science fiction]] heroes [[Flash Gordon]] and [[Buck Rogers]]. His knowledge of these characters helped him create his own and in 1941, his first paid story was "Pendulum," published in ''Super Science Stories''.  
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He became a full-time writer by the end of 1942. His first book, ''[[Dark Carnival]]'', a collection of short works, was published in 1947 by [[Arkham House]]. He married Marguerite McClure (1922–2003) in 1947, and they had four daughters.
  
 
==Works==
 
==Works==

Revision as of 15:39, 28 August 2006

Ray Douglas Bradbury (born August 22, 1920) decided at the age of twelve that he was going to be a writer. Now, over seventy years later, Ray Bradbury is known as one of the an American leading authors in the genres of fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery. As a writer, he has won almost every major fantasy fiction, this extensive list includs a Grand Master Nebula Award in 1988. His short stories, novels, and poems are full of thought provoking "what if" ideas that often relate to the extremes of human behavior. He received high acclaim for his short stories titled, The Martian Chronicles, which were later published in novel form in 1950. However, Bradbury's most powerful and compelling novel is Fahrenheit 451, which parodies the consequences of a totalitarian government's dictates that the written word must be band from existing. In fact, many of his stories deal with his interpretations of the social and technological realms of the modern world, his style is to take his criticisms of these two things and add a touch of fantasy. When people ask about the purpose of his novels, Bradbury has responded, "I don't try to describe the future. I try to prevent it." Although Bradbury's writings are full of adventure and intrigue, deception, the fantasitic, and often the disturbing horrific, his personal life is the exact opposite. He has lived a quiet, calm, respectful life in LA with his wife, daughters, and beloved cats.


Early Life

Ray Douglas Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois, the third son to Spaulding Bradbury and Esther Marie Moberg Bradbury. His father worked as a power and telephone lineman and his mother was an immigrant from Sweden. [1] His childhood consisted of two moves to Tucson, Arizona (1926-1927 and 1932-1933) as his father looked for work, both times the family returned to Waukegan. It was the influence of this small town and Bradbury's his family, along with his extended family and their lives together in Illinois, that gave Bradbury many stories for his future novels. Waukegan is the small Illinois town that is depicted as "Green Town" in his two semi-autobiographical novels, Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes. In 1934, the Bradburys made a final move to Los Angeles. Ray would spend much of his time roller skating through Hollywood in search of the many celebrities who lived there. In fact, the radio star George Burns, gave Bradbury his first pay as a writer when Bradbury wrote one of the jokes for Burn's radio show.

Ray Bradbury came from a line of men interested in the written word. Both his paternal grandfather and great-grandfather were newspaper publishers, and Bradbury, himself, began writing stories on spare pieces of butcher paper when he was 11. By the age of twelve, he knew he wanted to be a writer. He never detered from this dream, and when asked what keeps him so young and alert, he answers that he owes it all to doing something he loves every single day. Ray Bradbury attended Los Angeles High School, where he was influenced greatly by two of his teachers, Snow Longley Housh taught Ray to love poetry and Jeannet Johnson taught him how to write a short story. Bradbury joined the Poetry Club, and outside of school, he joined the Los Angeles Science Fiction Club. In 1938, Bradbury graduated from High School. The was the end of any formal education. He did not see the need for college and had no desire to spend time there when he already knew what he wanted to do with his life. Instead, he began writing everyday and haunting the local library to read every evening. His first story to be published was "Hollerbochen's Dilemma," (1938). Bradbury also tried his hand at publishing his own magazine, Futuria Fantasia, for which he wrote most of the content, however, he tired of all of the work and stopped the magazine after the fourth issue. To provide a living for himself he sold newspapers on various street corners, including the corner of South Norton Avenue and Olympic Boulevard. He did this until 1942.


As Ray Bradbury became serious about his writing, he claims that many people and characters inspired him. He loved the science fiction heroes Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. His knowledge of these characters helped him create his own and in 1941, his first paid story was "Pendulum," published in Super Science Stories.


He became a full-time writer by the end of 1942. His first book, Dark Carnival, a collection of short works, was published in 1947 by Arkham House. He married Marguerite McClure (1922–2003) in 1947, and they had four daughters.

Works

File:Ray Bradbury.jpg
Ray Bradbury in 1976.

For Bradbury, there is some blurring of categories, and the distinctions in his works are somewhat subjective, for he frequently has written multiple short stories about a set of characters or a subject, making minor edits or adding supplemental material, and calling the results a novel. Although he is often described as a science fiction writer, Bradbury does not box himself into a particular narrative categorization:

"First of all, I don't write science fiction. I've only done one science fiction book and that's Fahrenheit 451, based on reality. Science fiction is a depiction of the real. Fantasy is a depiction of the unreal. So Martian Chronicles is not science fiction, it's fantasy. It couldn't happen, you see? That's the reason it's going to be around a long time — because it's a Greek myth, and myths have staying power." [1]

Besides his fiction work, Bradbury has written many short essays on the arts and culture, attracting the attention of critics in this field. Bradbury was a consultant for the American Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair and the exhibit housed in Epcot's Spaceship Earth geosphere at Walt Disney World [2] [3] [4].

Adaptations of his work

File:Themartianchronicles.jpg
One of the The Martian Chronicles book covers

Many of Bradbury's stories and novels have been adapted to films, radio, television, theater and comic books. In 1951–1954, twenty-seven of Bradbury's stories were adapted by Al Feldstein for EC Comics, sixteen of which were collected in the books The Autumn People (1965) and Tomorrow Midnight (1966). Also in the early 1950s, adaptations of Bradbury's stories were televised on a variety of shows including Tales of Tomorrow, Lights Out, Out There, Suspense, CBS Television Workshop, Jane Wyman's Fireside Theatre, Star Tonight, Windows and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

A half-hour film adaptation of Bradbury's "The Merry-Go Round", praised by Variety, was shown on Starlight Summer Theater in 1954 and NBC's Sneak Preview in 1956. For The Ray Bradbury Theater, first seen on TV from 1985 to 1992, Bradbury adapted 65 of his stories. The Martian Chronicles became a 1980 TV miniseries starring Rock Hudson.

Director Jack Arnold first brought Bradbury to movie theaters in 1953 with It Came from Outer Space, a Harry Essex screenplay developed from Bradbury's screen treatment, "The Meteor". Three weeks later, Eugène Lourié's The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953), based on Bradbury's "The Fog Horn," about a sea monster mistaking the sound of a fog horn for the mating cry of a female, was released. Bradbury's close friend Ray Harryhausen produced the stop-motion animation of the creature. Over the next 50 years, more than 35 features, shorts, and TV movies were based on Bradbury's stories or screenplays.

Recently, Peter Hyams' film version of Bradbury's 1953 story, A Sound of Thunder (2005), brought an almost unanimous negative reaction from film critics. Reviewing for The New York Times, A.O. Scott observed that "it illustrates the dangers of turning a lean, elegant short story into a loud, noisy, incoherent B movie."

A new film version of Fahrenheit 451 is being planned by director Frank Darabont; an earlier version was directed by François Truffaut in 1966. In 2002, Bradbury's own Pandemonium Theatre Company production of Fahrenheit 451 at Burbank's Falcon Theatre combined live acting with projected digital animation by the Pixel Pups. Bradbury and director Charles Rome Smith co-founded Pandemonium in 1964, staging the New York production of The World of Ray Bradbury (1964), adaptations of "The Pedestrian," "The Veldt" and "To the Chicago Abyss."

Controversy over titles

In 2004 it was reported that Bradbury was extremely upset with filmmaker Michael Moore for using the title Fahrenheit 9/11, which is an allusion to Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, for his documentary about the George W. Bush administration. Bradbury called Moore "a horrible human being," but stated that his resentment was not politically motivated.[2] Bradbury asserts that he does not want any of the money made by the movie, nor does he believe that he deserves it. He pressured Moore to change the "stolen" name, but to no avail. Moore called Bradbury two weeks before the film's release in 2004 to apologize, saying that the film's marketing was set in motion a long time ago, and it was too late to change the title.[5]

Honors and awards

2004 award recipient Ray Bradbury with President George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush.
  • For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Ray Bradbury was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6644 Hollywood Blvd.
  • An asteroid is named in his honor, "9766 Bradbury," along with a crater on the moon called "Dandelion Crater" (named after his novel, Dandelion Wine.)
  • On November 17, 2004, Bradbury was the recipient of the National Medal of Arts, presented by President George W. Bush and Laura Bush. Bradbury has also received the World Fantasy Award life achievement, Stoker Award life achievement, SFWA Grand Master, SF Hall of Fame Living Inductee, and First Fandom Award. He received an Emmy Award for his work on The Halloween Tree.
  • The "About the Author" sections in several of his published works claim that he has been nominated for an Academy Award. A search of the Academy's awards database [3] proves this to be incorrect. Two films he worked on, Icarus Montgolfier Wright and Moby Dick, were nominated for Academy Awards, but Bradbury himself has not been.

Trivia

  • One well known irony is that Bradbury, despite writing about spaceships and interplanetary travel and having lived in Los Angeles for most of his life, has never driven a car. He attributes this to having seen a gruesome car accident when he was young.
  • Bradbury never flew in an airplane until the age of 62. Later, he flew on the Concorde to Paris, where he worked with Disney on the new Disneyland being created in France. He did enjoy a ride in the Goodyear Blimp when he was 48.
  • Helped with many projects over the years with the Walt Disney Company, including the futurist park EPCOT and also got his inspiration for being an advocate for the proposed L.A. monorail system from the Disneyland monorail system.
  • At the age of fifteen, Bradbury read Jack Woodford's book on writing, Trial and Error, which had a large influence on his career. He also attributes his lifelong daily writing habit to the day in 1932 when a carnival entertainer, Mr. Electrico, touched him with an electrified sword, made his hair stand on end, and shouted, "Live forever!"

List of Bradbury works

Novels

  • (1950) The Martian Chronicles
  • (1953) Fahrenheit 451
  • (1957) Dandelion Wine
  • (1962) Something Wicked This Way Comes
  • (1972) The Halloween Tree
  • (1985) Death Is a Lonely Business
  • (1990) A Graveyard for Lunatics
  • (1992) Green Shadows, White Whale
  • (2001) From the Dust Returned
  • (2003) Let's All Kill Constance
  • (2003) It Came from Outer Space
  • (2006) Farewell Summer (October 1)

Short story collections

  • (1947) Dark Carnival
  • (1951) The Illustrated Man
  • (1953) The Golden Apples of the Sun
  • (1955) The October Country
  • (1959) A Medicine for Melancholy
  • (1962) R is for Rocket
  • (1964) The Machineries of Joy
  • (1965) The Vintage Bradbury
  • (1966) S is for Space
  • (1969) I Sing The Body Electric
  • (1976) Long After Midnight
  • (1980) The Stories of Ray Bradbury
  • (1984) A Memory of Murder
  • (1988) The Toynbee Convector
  • (1996) Quicker Than The Eye
  • (1998) Driving Blind
  • (2002) One More for the Road
  • (2003) Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales
  • (2004) The Cat's Pajamas: Stories
  • (2005) A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories

In addition to these collections, many of the stories have been published in multi-author anthologies. Almost 50 additional Bradbury stories have never been collected anywhere after their initial publication in periodicals.

Screenplays and teleplays

  • (1953) It Came from Outer Space (original story)
  • (1956) Moby Dick
  • Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre
    • (1956) The Bullet Trick / The Marked Bullet
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents
    • (1956) Shopping for Death
    • (1958) Design for Loving
    • (1959) Special Delivery
    • (1962) The Faith of Aaron Menefee (from the story by Stanley Ellin)
  • Steve Canyon
    • (1959) The Gift
  • Trouble Shooters
    • (1959) The Tunnel to Yesterday
  • (1961) King of Kings (narration, uncredited)
  • The Twilight Zone
    • (1962) I Sing the Body Electric
  • Alcoa Premiere
    • (1962) The Jail
  • (1962) Icarus Montgolfier Wright
  • The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
    • (1964) The Life Work of Juan Diaz
  • (1969) The Picasso Summer
  • The Curiosity Shop
    • (1971) The Groon
  • (1979) Gnomes
  • (1982) The Electric Grandmother
  • (1983) Something Wicked This Way Comes
  • (1983) Quest
  • (1985-1992) The Ray Bradbury Theater
  • The Twilight Zone
    • (1986) The Elevator
  • (1992) Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland
  • (1993) The Halloween Tree
  • (1998) The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit

This list does not include adaptations by others of Bradbury's published stories.

Radio

  • World Security Workshop
    • (1947) The Meadow
  • Suspense
    • (1947) Riabouchinska (original story)
    • (1948) Summer Night (original story)
    • (1948) The Screaming Woman (original story)
  • (1968) Leviathan '99

This list does not include adaptations by others of Bradbury's published stories.

Poetry

  • (1975) When Elephants Last in the Dooryard Bloomed
  • (1977) Where Robot Mice and Robot Men Run Round in Robot Towns
  • (1981) The Haunted Computer and the Android Pope
  • (2002) They Have Not Seen the Stars: The Collected Poetry of Ray Bradbury

Plays

  • (1948) The Meadow
  • (1963) The Anthem Sprinters and Other Antics
  • (1966) The Day It Rained Forever
  • (1966) The Pedestrian
  • (1972) The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and Other Plays
  • (1975) Pillar of Fire and Other Plays
  • (1986) Fahrenheit 451
  • (1986) The Martian Chronicles
  • (1988) Dandelion Wine
  • (1988) Falling Upward
  • (1988) Bradbury on Stage: A Chrestomathy of His Plays

Children

  • (1955) Switch on the Night
  • (1997) With Cat for Comforter
  • (1997) Dogs Think That Every Day Is Christmas

Fable

  • (1998) Ahmed and the Oblivion Machines

Non-fiction

  • (1990) Zen in the Art of Writing
  • (1991) Yestermorrow: Obvious Answers to Impossible Futures
  • (2004) Conversations With Ray Bradbury
  • (2005) Bradbury Speaks: Too Soon from the Cave, Too Far from the Stars

Further reading

  • William F. Nolan, The Ray Bradbury Companion: A Life and Career History, Photolog, and Comprehensive Checklist of Writings, Gale Research (1975). Hardcover, 339 pages. ISBN 0-8103-0930-0
  • Jerry Weist, Bradbury, an Illustrated Life: A Journey to Far Metaphor, William Morrow & Company (2002). Hardcover, 208 pages. ISBN 0060011823
  • Jonathan R. Eller and William F. Touponce, Ray Bradbury: The Life of Fiction, Kent State University Press (2004). Hardcover, 320 pages. ISBN 0873387791
  • Sam Weller, The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury, HarperCollins (2005). Hardcover, 384 pages. ISBN 006054581X

Documentaries about Ray Bradbury

  • Bradbury's works and approach to writing are documented in Terry Sanders' film Ray Bradbury: Story of a Writer (1963).
  • Bradbury's later life was satirized in an Internet short by Invisible Engine called The Adventures of Ray Bradbury, in which Ray has two fictitious sons and a fictitious autistic daughter, as well as an African-American doppelganger who goes by the obvious name of "Black Ray Bradbury." The episode concludes with a "To Be Continued" title card, but there has yet to be a second episode.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  1. ↑ Certificate of Birth, Ray Douglas Bradbury, August 22, 1920, Lake County Clerk's Record #4750. Although he was named after Rae Williams, a cousin on his father's side, Ray Bradbury's birth certificate spells his first name as "Ray."
  2. ↑ Ray Bradbury. "In 1982 he created the interior metaphors for the Spaceship Earth display at Epcot Center, Disney World." http://www.raybradbury.com/bio.html
  3. ↑ Ray Bradbury. "The images at Spaceship Earth in DisneyWorld's EPCOT Center in Orlando? Well, they are all Bradbury's ideas." http://www.raybradbury.com/articles_town_talk.html
  4. ↑ Ray Bradbury. "He also serves as a consultant, having collaborated, for example, in the design of a pavilion in the Epcot Center at Walt Disney World." Refering to Spaceship Earth http://www.raybradbury.com/articles_book_mag.html
  5. ↑ Weller, Sam (2005). The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury. New York: HarperCollins, 330-331. ISBN 006054581X. 

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