- Born
- Died
- Birth nameEdward Hamilton Waldo
- Nickname
- Ted
- Edward Hamilton Waldo was an American science fiction writer who published under the legal name Theodore Sturgeon - he changed his name following his mother's divorce. He was born on Staten Island, New York and sold his first short story in 1938. He is perhaps best known for the novel 'More Than Human' (1953) and his short horror story, 'IT', which has appeared in countless anthologies over the years. For the screen, Sturgeon contributed to TV projects including Tales of Tomorrow (1951), The Invaders (1967), Star Trek (1966) and The Twilight Zone (1985).
His short fiction appeared in publications such as 'Astounding Science Fiction', 'Unknown', Argosy', and 'Ellery Queen'. He is known to have directly influenced authors like Ray Bradbury and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and is also praised by the Grand Master, Stephen King.
- IMDb mini biography by: Matt Lee-Williams
- SpousesJayne Tannehill(July 22, 1976 - May 8, 1985) (his death, 1 child)Marion McGahan(1951 - ?) (divorced, 4 children)Mary Mair(1949 - ?) (divorced)Dorothe Fillingame(1940 - ?) (divorced, 2 children)Wina Bonnie Golden (divorced)
- In 1968 he wrote "The Joy Machine," a third script for the Star Trek (1966) TV series, that was never shot. The main reason that it wasn't used in the series is that it contained expensive special effects sequences that would be too much for their budget. However, the script was adapted into a book by James Gunn (Star Trek #80, The Original Series) and published by Pocket Books in 1996.
- Coined the famed phrase "Live long and prosper" in the premiere episode of the second season of Star Trek (1966), "Amok Time" (according to an interview with Leonard Nimoy).
- The Theodore Sturgeon Award for the best short science fiction of the year was established in 1987 by James Gunn, director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at KU, and the heirs of Theodore Sturgeon, including his widow Jayne Sturgeon and Sturgeon's children, as an appropriate memorial to one of the great short-story writers in a field distinguished by its short fiction.
- Is attributed with having formulated both "Sturgeon's Law" ("Nothing is always absolutely so") and "Sturgeon's Revelation" ("Ninety percent of everything is crud."). The first is a line from the story "The Claustrophile" in a 1956 issue of "Galaxy" magazine and the second was a response to a criticism of science fiction as a low-quality genre in his book review column for the March 1958 "Venture".
- His short story, "Occam's Scalpel", appears in The 1972 Annual World's Best SF, a compilation of that year's best science fiction writers.
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