- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJohn Wood Campbell Jr.
- Nickname
- The Father of Modern Science Fiction
- John W. Campbell, Jr. was an American science fiction writer and editor, known predominantly for the sub-genre 'Hard Science Fiction', and further credited for his role in the Golden Age of Science Fiction. He began writing science fiction in his teens and attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He then studied at Duke University where he gained his Bachelor of Science in Physics. By the time he reached his early twenties, however, he was already a well-known writer for the Pulp Magazines.
Campbell played a crucial and influential part in the careers of Isaac Asimov, Ben Bova, Arthur C. Clarke, Tom Godwin, Robert A. Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, and A.E. van Vogt. He was further considered as one of THE most influential editors working in the world of science- or Pulp - fiction: he edited 'Astounding Science Fiction' and 'Analog
As a writer his most famous work is the novella 'Who Goes There?' first printed in 'Astounding Stories' August 1938. A tale of isolation, cabin fever, and alien invasion, the story has been filmed three times: as The Thing from Another World (1951), as The Thing (1982) by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, and as The Thing (2011). The story has also made into video game format. His short story 'The Machine' was filmed in the 1950's Tales of Tomorrow (1951).
In 1996 John W. Campbell Jr. was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.
- IMDb mini biography by: Matt Lee-Williams
- SpousesMargaret Winter(1950 - July 11, 1971) (his death, 3 children)Dona Stuart(1931 - ?)
- Known to have helped invent "hard science fiction", a genre ever-increasingly popular in fiction as well as movies and TV.
- As editor, he helped launch the careers of Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, A.E. van Vogt, and Theodore Sturgeon.
- Created the fantasy magazine Unknown, which ran 1939-1943. It featured "hard fantasy" as well as modern horror fiction, such as Fritz Leiber's Conjure Wife, which was filmed as Weird Woman (1944) and Night of the Eagle (1962).
- In 1938, he became editor of Astounding Stories of Super Science, and changed the name to Astounding Science Fiction. While there, he established a new standard in maturity and scientific acuracy in science fiction pulp magazine writing. He is credited with creating "The Golden Age of Science Fiction," which lasted from 1938 to 1950 and especially during World War II. In the sixties, he changed the name again to Analog Science Fiction and Fact. He remained editor until his death.
- In 2018, a manuscript for a book called "Frozen Hell" was found, which turned out to be a longer version of his famous short story "Who goes there?" (the story that inspired The Thing from Another World (1951) and The Thing (1982)). It was discovered by writer Alec Nevala-Lee during a research on a biography of Campbell. Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, the book was published in 2019.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
