John D.F. Black Passes
1 min read
John D.F. Black, best-known to original series fans for his The Naked Time episode, passed away November 29 at the age of eighty-five.
Black’s widow Mary confirmed the news to Jacobs/Brown Press, Black’s publisher, who then revealed the news yesterday.
Born as John Donald Francis Black on December 30, 1932, Black’s screenwriting career began in 1957 with the sci-fi film The Unearthly.
Black’s television script writing included The F.B.I., Mission: Impossible, Room 222, Hawaii Five-O, Charlie’s Angels, Mr. Novak, Star Trek, and The Next Generation.
He also wrote the screenplay for Shaft (1972), and wrote the opening line to the original series. (“Space…the final frontier.”)
For Star Trek, Black wrote The Naked Time, for which he was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1967. He also wrote two episodes for The Next Generation; Justice, and The Naked Now. Black was also a story consultant for the fan webseries Star Trek Continues.
In addition to the Hugo nomination, Black won two awards; a Writer Guild award in 1966 for the With a Hammer in His Hand, Lord! Lord! episode of Mr. Novak, and an Emmy nomination and an Edgar Allen Poe award for the television movie Thief (1972).
According to his widow, Black died of natural causes at the Motion Picture Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. He is survived by his wife and two sons.
About The Author
