Richard Matheson was born February 20th, 1926 in New Jersey. He started writing at the age of eight, and earned a degree in journalism in New York and Missouri and saw action during World War II. In 1950 he first was noticed as an upcoming writer-to-watch, starting with the short story Born of Man and Woman. He went on to produce seven novels and a large collection of short stories for various magazines, including some for Weird Tales and a lot of new Science Fiction magazines that were growing in popularity after the War, includingThe Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Hollywood approached him, asking for rights to his novel The Shrinking Man. Seizing the chance he negotiated the… chance to write the screenplay, and he began a long career in screenwriting and adapting. Matheson also scripted some of the best regarded episodes of The Twilight Zone and won an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1973 for The Night Stalker. He has also won the World Fantasy Convention's Life Achievement Award, the Bram Stoker Award for Life Achievement, the Hugo Award, the Golden Spur Award, and the Writer's Guild Award. Several of Matheson's novels and stories have been made into films, including The Shrinking Man (filmed as "The Incredible Shrinking Man" in 1957), I Am Legend (filmed twice, once as "The Last Man on Earth" starring Vincent Price in 1964, and again as "The Omega Man" starring Charlton Heston in 1971), and Bid Time Return (filmed as "Somewhere in Time" starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour in 1980). Matheson also wrote the scripts for Stephen Spielberg's first feature film, Duel; the TV-movie The Night Stalker; and several of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe films, including House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), and The Raven (1963). He also wrote the screenplay for Stir of Echoes with Kevin Bacon and What Dreams May Come with Robin Williams.