Jackson Clark Gillis (August 21, 1916 – August 19, 2010) was an American radio and televisionscriptwriter whose career spanned more than 40 years and encompassed a wide range of genres.[1]
Gillis was born inKalama, Washington to a highway engineer and a piano teacher. His family moved to California when he was a teenager. He attendedCalifornia State University, Fresno, but transferred toStanford University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in English in 1938.[2] He worked in England after graduating from college. After returning to the United States, he performed with theBarter Theatre inVirginia, together withGregory Peck.George Bernard Shaw attended a performance of one of his plays, in which Gillis acted. Gillis received a note from Shaw that critiqued his exit, a postcard Gillis retained for decades. He enlisted in theUnited States Army and worked as an intelligence officer duringWorld War II in thePacific Theater.[1]
After completing his military service, Gillis moved toLos Angeles and took a job writing for radio shows, including the dramasThe Whistler andLet George Do It. He moved into television scriptwriting and earned his first credit — for an episode ofRacket Squad, a series that starredReed Hadley — in 1952. He wrote forThe Adventures of Superman from 1953 to 1957 and also spent several years writing forPerry Mason andLassie. His scriptwriting was prolific and varied, and over the years, he worked on shows such asLost in Space,Hawaii Five-O, andKnight Rider. He wrote for the seriesColumbo, starringPeter Falk, from 1971 to 1992.[1] He also wrote a pair of detective novels,The Killers of Starfish andChainsaw.[2]
After retiring from Hollywood in the 1990s, Gillis and his wife moved toMoscow, Idaho, to be near their daughter.[3] Years after retiring, he received one last writing credit for theLois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episode "All Shook Up", due to that episode being a remake of theAdventures of Superman episode "Panic in the Sky". Gillis was married to the former Patricia Cassidy, a fellow actor whom he met during his brief acting career at the Barter Theatre, until her death in 2003. He died at age 93 on August 19, 2010, ofpneumonia in Moscow, Idaho.[1] His daughter recalled that her father watched little on television other than football, as "he thought most of what was on TV was junk".[1]
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