John Donald Francis Black (December 30, 1932 – November 29, 2018) was a screenwriter, TV producer, and TV director. He is best known for his work on the TV series ''

Star Trek: The Original Series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...

'' in 1966, and its sequel series, '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' during the 1980s.

Work

Black was the

associate producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

for ten episodes of ''Star Trek'' made during the program's first season, all of which were broadcast from September 8, 1966, through December 15, 1966. Black also wrote the

teleplay A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or a ...

for and was the associate producer of one of the outstanding early episodes of ''Star Trek''—" The Naked Time". During the 1980s, Black was also given credit for the story for sequel episode, " The Naked Now", in ''Star Trek: The Next Generation''. Black also received shared story-writing credit (with Worley Thorne, who wrote the teleplay) for one more episode in this series, "

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

", under his pseudonym of "Ralph Wills". Black also wrote for many other TV series, including ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Mo ...

'', '' Charlie's Angels'', ''

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

'', '' The Fugitive'', '' Mission: Impossible'', and '' Mannix''. In his work for motion pictures, Black co-wrote the movie adaptation of '' Shaft'' (1971), along with co-writer

Ernest Tidyman Ernest Ralph Tidyman (January 1, 1928 – July 14, 1984) was an American author and screenwriter, best known for his novels featuring the African-American detective John Shaft. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the film version of '' Shaft'' w ...

, who had written the original novel of ''Shaft''. Black also was the screenwriter and executive producer of the detective film '' Trouble Man'' (1972), which starred

Robert Hooks Robert Hooks (born Bobby Dean Hooks; April 18, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and activist. Along with Douglas Turner Ward and Gerald S. Krone, he founded The Negro Ensemble Company. The Negro Ensemble Company is credited with the laun ...

and whose musical score was written by Marvin Gaye.

Films

Television

Awards

In 1972, Black received an Edgar Award from the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Gu ...

in the category of "Best Television Feature or Miniseries Teleplay" for writing the script for the

made-for-TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

''Thief''.

Death

According to Black's widow Mary Black, he died peacefully of natural causes at the Motion Picture Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.

References

External links

* American science fiction writers American male screenwriters Edgar Award winners American male novelists 1932 births 2018 deaths {{US-sf-writer-stub