- Henry Slesar
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Henry Slesar Born June 12, 1927
Brooklyn, New York, USADied April 2, 2002 (aged 74)
New York City, New York, USAPen name O. H. Leslie
Jay StreetNationality American Genres Dark fantasy
Detective fiction
Science fiction
Mysteries
ThrillersHenry Slesar (June 12, 1927 - April 2, 2002) was an American author, playwright, and copywriter. He was also known as O.H. Leslie and Jay Street.
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Early life
He was born Henry Schlosser in Brooklyn, New York City. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Ukraine, and he had two sisters named Doris and Lillian. After graduating from high school, he started his career as a copywriter.
Career
Around 1955, he started to write short stories. While working as a copywriter, he published hundreds of short stories, including detective fiction, science fiction, criminal stories, mysteries, and thrillers in such publications as Playboy, Imaginative Tales, and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. Alfred Hitchcock hired him to write a number of the scenarios for Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
The term "coffee break" was coined by Slesar. He was also the person behind McGraw-Hill's massively popular "The Man in the Chair" advertising campaign.[citation needed]
From 1957 to 1962, he wrote the Ruby Martinson series and later worked on Rod Serling's Twilight Zone series. In 1960 for his first novel, The Gray Flannel Shroud (1958), he was given the Edgar Allan Poe Award. He also penned the screenplay for the 1965 film Two on a Guillotine, which was based on one of his stories. His short story "Examination Day" was used in the 1980s Twilight Zone revival.
In 1974, he won an Emmy Award as the head writer for CBS Daytime's The Edge of Night. His term as head writer (1956-84) was considered lengthy. During that time, he was also head writer for the Procter and Gamble soap operas Somerset (on NBC Daytime) and Search for Tomorrow until John William Corrington replaced him on the latter. During the 1974-75 television season, he was the creator and head writer for Executive Suite, a CBS primetime series. He wrote mainly science-fiction scripts for the CBS Radio Mystery Theater during the 1970s.[1]
In 1983, Procter and Gamble wanted to replace him as the head writer for The Edge of Night, but the ABC/ABC Daytime kept him. After his eventual replacement as head writer by Lee Sheldon, the network named him and Sam Hall the new head writers of its soap opera One Life to Live, but he left that show after only one year. He was later the head writer of the CBS Daytime series Capitol.
Awards/Nominations
In 1960, he was awarded the Edgar Award.
Death
In 2002, he died of complications from an operation.
References
- ^ "Free Audio SF - CBS Radio Mystery Theater". Hard SF. http://www.hardsf.org/HSF0CBSM.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-10.
External links
- Henry Slesar at the Internet Movie Database
- WhoDunnit
- Henry Slesar at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Categories:- American soap opera writers
- 1927 births
- 2002 deaths
- People from Brooklyn
- American novelists
- American mystery writers
- Science fiction fans
- American science fiction writers
- Edgar Award winners
- Jewish American novelists
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