D.C. Fontana — an original writer for Star Trek — has died. Fontana passed away peacefully on Monday (December 2) following a short illness. She was 80 years old.
Born Dorothy Catherine Fontana, she was credited with writing 11 episodes of and being "the mind behind" Star Trek's original series. She also wrote many episodes for the franchise's many other series including The Next Generation, The Animated Series, Deep Space Nine and more.
Fontana was credited with creating some of the key elements of Star Trek alongside showrunner Gene Roddenberry. In her later career, she would go on to work on Logan's Run, ReBoot, Dallas and dozens of other productions. She also was employed as a senior lecturer at the American Film Institute.
Trekkies and non-trekkies alike have paid tribute to the influential writer. See some of their messages below.
Born Dorothy Catherine Fontana, she was credited with writing 11 episodes of and being "the mind behind" Star Trek's original series. She also wrote many episodes for the franchise's many other series including The Next Generation, The Animated Series, Deep Space Nine and more.
Fontana was credited with creating some of the key elements of Star Trek alongside showrunner Gene Roddenberry. In her later career, she would go on to work on Logan's Run, ReBoot, Dallas and dozens of other productions. She also was employed as a senior lecturer at the American Film Institute.
Trekkies and non-trekkies alike have paid tribute to the influential writer. See some of their messages below.
Sad because "D.C. Fontana" has passed. We'd exchanged emails over the years and finally had lunch with @trekfactcheck and I in June. Heartfelt condolences to her family, friends and students. Hope her legacy both as a writer and female TV writer is long remembered. #dcfontana
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Saddened to hear the news that DC Fontana has passed away. She did just as much to shape @StarTrek as both writer and producer as Roddenberry himself, and during a period when that was not the norm for women in the industry. A true trailblazer. 😞🖖🏼
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