Ray Bradbury
Birthday:
22 August 1920, Waukegan, Illinois, USA
Birth Name:
Ray Douglas Bradbury
Height:
173 cm
Ray Bradbury was an American science fiction writer whose works were translated in more than 40 languages and sold millions of copies around the world. Although he created a world of new technical and intellectual ideas, he never obtained a driver's license and had never driven a car.He was born Ray Douglas Bradbury on August 22, 1920, in Wauk...
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Ray Bradbury was an American science fiction writer whose works were translated in more than 40 languages and sold millions of copies around the world. Although he created a world of new technical and intellectual ideas, he never obtained a driver's license and had never driven a car.He was born Ray Douglas Bradbury on August 22, 1920, in Waukegan, Illinois. He was the third son in the family. His father, Leonard Spaulding Bradbury, was a telephone lineman and technician. His mother, Esther Marie Bradbury (nee Moberg), was a Swedish immigrant. His grandfather and great-grandfather were newspaper publishers. In 1934 his family settled in Los Angeles, California. There young Bradbury often roller-skated through Hollywood, trying to spot celebrities. He attended Los Angeles High School, where he was involved in the drama club and planned to become an actor. He graduated from high school in 1938 and had no more formal education. Instead, he learned from reading works of such writers as Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky, among others.From 1938-42 he was selling newspapers on the streets of Los Angeles, spending days in the local library and nights at the typewriter. At that time he published his stories in fanzines. In 1941 he became a paid writer when the pulp magazine Science Stories published his short story, titled "Pendulum", and he was a full-time writer by the end of 1942. His first book - "Dark Carnival" - was a collection of stories published in 1947. That same year he married Marguerite McClure (1922-2003), whom he met at a book store a year earlier. Maggie, as she was affectionately called, was the only woman Bradbyru ever dated. They had four daughters and, eventually, eight grandchildren.Ray Bradbury shot to international fame after publication of "The Martian Chronicles" (1950), a collection of short stories partially based on ideas from ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Then he followed the anti-Utopian writers Yevgeni Zamyatin and Aldous Huxley in his best known work, "Farenheit 451" (1953). The 1966 film adaptation (Fahrenheit 451 (1966)) by director François Truffaut, starring Julie Christie, received several nominations. However, Bradbury was not happy with the 1980 TV adaptation (The Martian Chronicles (1980), starring Rock Hudson) of his story "The Martian Chronicles". His other novels and stories also have been adapted to films and television, as well as for radio, theatre and comic books. Bradbury had written episodes for Alfred Hitchcock's TV series, as well as for many other TV productions. His total literary output is close to 600 short stories, more than 30 books and numerous poems and plays. He was writing daily.In 2004 Bradbury received a National Medal of Arts. He was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6644 Hollywood Blvd. An asteroid was named in his honor, "9766 Bradbury", and the Apollo astronaut named a crater on the moon "Dandelion Crater", after his novel, "Dandelion Wine". He also received the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Grand Master Award from Science Fiction Writers of America, an Emmy Award for his work as a writer on "The Halloween Tree", and many other awards and honors.Ray Bradbury died on June 6, 2012, at the age of 91, in Los Angeles, California. Show less «
The best scientist is open to experience and begins with romance - the idea that anything is possible.
The best scientist is open to experience and begins with romance - the idea that anything is possible.
Touch a scientist and you touch a child.
Touch a scientist and you touch a child.
[on writing "Fahrenheit 451"] I wasn't trying to predict the future. I was trying to prevent it.
[on writing "Fahrenheit 451"] I wasn't trying to predict the future. I was trying to prevent it.
I am one of those fortunate people who were born to be joyful writers discovered the fact early on.
I am one of those fortunate people who were born to be joyful writers discovered the fact early on.
Sense of humor is everything. You can do anything in this world if you have a sense of humor. Many directors, producers, people haven't lear...Show more »
Sense of humor is everything. You can do anything in this world if you have a sense of humor. Many directors, producers, people haven't learned that -- that if you just salt people down a little and put a bit of butter on them and make them happy, then we can all work together. Show less «
There are two races of people - men and women - no matter what what women's libbers would have you pretend. Men are born with no purpose in ...Show more »
There are two races of people - men and women - no matter what what women's libbers would have you pretend. Men are born with no purpose in the universe except to procreate. There is lots of time to kill beyond that. Show less «
Once you hear a metaphor of mine, you won't forget it. A dinosaur falling in love with a lighthouse, boom, there's your metaphor. Once you h...Show more »
Once you hear a metaphor of mine, you won't forget it. A dinosaur falling in love with a lighthouse, boom, there's your metaphor. Once you hear that, you say, "Gee, I gotta read that, I wonder what happened?" All the great stories of the world are metaphorical, so they can be remembered. That's why so much stage writing and film writing today can't be remembered, because there are no metaphors. You can't tell the story when you come out of the theater. That's what's wrong with most modern fiction. Realism is what we already know. My job is to interpret realism, to turn it into metaphors, so you can swallow it. Show less «
I'm the most cinematic writer around -- all of my short stories can be shot right off the page.
I'm the most cinematic writer around -- all of my short stories can be shot right off the page.
I don't need to be vindicated, and I don't want attention. I never question. I never ask anyone else's opinion. They don't count.
I don't need to be vindicated, and I don't want attention. I never question. I never ask anyone else's opinion. They don't count.
[on Ray Harryhausen] Long after we are all gone, his shadow shows will live through a thousand years in this world.
[on Ray Harryhausen] Long after we are all gone, his shadow shows will live through a thousand years in this world.
[on Lon Chaney] He was someone who acted out our psyches. He got into the shadows inside our bodies. The history of Lon Chaney is the histor...Show more »
[on Lon Chaney] He was someone who acted out our psyches. He got into the shadows inside our bodies. The history of Lon Chaney is the history of unrequited love. Show less «
I have fun with ideas. I play with them. I'm not a serious person and I don't like serious people. I don't see myself as a philosopher. That...Show more »
I have fun with ideas. I play with them. I'm not a serious person and I don't like serious people. I don't see myself as a philosopher. That's awfully boring. Show less «
I don't believe in being serious about anything. I think life is too serious to be taken seriously.
I don't believe in being serious about anything. I think life is too serious to be taken seriously.
I don't try to describe the future. I try to prevent it.
I don't try to describe the future. I try to prevent it.
Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.
Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.
After 9/11, Hollywood promised they were going to make more family films, less violence, and things of that sort, well it's never happened. ...Show more »
After 9/11, Hollywood promised they were going to make more family films, less violence, and things of that sort, well it's never happened. Films have gotten more violent. The Bond films are unwatchable now; I was around 45 years ago when the Bond films began. They were nice quiet little films, every 5 minutes a little bit of action perhaps. But now there's an explosion every 5 minutes and they set off 10 billion gallons of gasoline, and there are more macho selves being made today, in which people settle things with guns, and with machine guns. So things have not improved. They've gotten worse. Show less «
If you were to ask me what I think of Hollywood today, it's more of the same, except worse. I grew up in Hollywood, I roller skated around h...Show more »
If you were to ask me what I think of Hollywood today, it's more of the same, except worse. I grew up in Hollywood, I roller skated around here, and got autographs and photographs when I was 14 years old, so I know the community very well. But things have gotten worse, because we're making more money today out of doing lousy films. A good example is The Mummy, it came out when I was 12 years old, I loved the film with Boris Karloff, a very minor film with a minor amount of money, probably cost $100,000 or less. But it's a beautiful film, with a nice script. They made a new version here at Universal 5 years ago, it was a terrible film. They thought "If one mummy's scares you, 2 dozen mummies, a chorus line of mummies has got to be very scary." So the film came out, dreadful film, and it made $500 million. So they were encouraged into believing that doing lousy films is profitable; but even worse than the old days. So they did another film called The Mummy Returns, and it was even worse than the first one, and it made a billion dollars, so they were encouraged in going ahead to making lousy films instead of quality films. So things haven't changed, they've just gotten bigger, and lousier. Show less «
People say to me, "What is Hollywood's responsibility?". The responsibility of Hollywood is to prove that we are human. Not with happy endin...Show more »
People say to me, "What is Hollywood's responsibility?". The responsibility of Hollywood is to prove that we are human. Not with happy endings, but with moments we take away and remember. Show less «