Rod Serling in The Twilight Zone

How the War Hero Excelled in Writing and Television

Nov 17, 2009 Bryan Jackson

He was a WWII combat veteran, and by the end of his life he had become one of the most prolific writers of all time.

Rodman Edward Serling was born on Christmas Day, 1924, in Syracuse, New York. His family practiced Reform Judaism, but later he became a Unitarian Universalist. In 1926, his family moved to Binghamton, NY. Rod Serling was not a large man, having reached the height of five feet, four inches as a young adult. He was editor of his high school newspaper.

Rod Serling’s Military Service

In January 1943 Serling joined the United States Army. During basic training he began to box. Boxing helped him earn extra money, and he won 17 of 18 fights. He served as a paratrooper (Airborne) in the Pacific theater. He also apparently removed thousands of pounds of dynamite from Japanese-built tunnels as an Infantry Combat Demolition Specialist.

He was also wounded in battle. Among Serling’s decorations, he received the following:

• Purple Heart
• Asiatic Pacific Theater Medal with Battle Star
• Philippines Liberation Medal with Battle Star
• National Defense Medal

While serving, his father died of a heart attack.

Always one for a challenge, after the war Serling tested experimental parachutes for the army for $500 per jump.

College Life for Rod Serling

Serling enrolled at Antioch College in Ohio under the G.I. Bill. He started out as a physical education major and changed in time to English. During his first year there, Serling met his future wife, Carol Kramer.

Antioch had early Unitarian connections and Serling and Kramer adopted Unitarianism as a compromise. They married at the Antioch chapel in 1948. Serling graduated with a degree in literature.

Rod Serling the Writer

After Serling’s graduation he landed a job as a staff writer for a radio station. He worked days there and in the evenings he wrote scripts at the kitchen table. He eventually moved to New York after earning enough as a freelance writer.

He won Emmy awards for several screenplays and also for his series, The Twilight Zone, winning them in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, and 1964. Rod Serling wrote 92 of 156 episodes. He co-wrote the 1968 blockbuster, Planet of the Apes.

He has won numerous awards since, a few of them posthumously. In 1969, more of Serling’s work, The Night Gallery, aired on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). He also made use of his unusual voice by doing voice work. He narrated some of the specials known as The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau.

In May 1975 Rod Serling was admitted to the hospital after a mild heart attack. In June of that year he underwent coronary bypass surgery and died during the procedure from complications. Although he died relatively young, Rod Serling lived a full life. He went from the horrors of warfare to the privilege of liberal activism. He proved himself to be a writer of conviction and man of great imagination.

Sources:

• The Rod Serling Memorial Foundation Official Website
• The Rod Serling Trivia Home Page
• Unitarian Universalist Association Home Page

The copyright of the article Rod Serling in The Twilight Zone in Acting & Directing is owned by Bryan Jackson. Permission to republish Rod Serling in The Twilight Zone in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Rod Serling, Writer and American Legend