Harlan Ellison
Birthday: 27 May 1934, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Birth Name: Harlan Jay Ellison
Height: 159 cm
Harlan Ellison was raised in Ohio by Serita Rosenthal Ellison and Louis Laverne Ellison. He has an older sister, Beverly. Mr. Ellison has been married five times. He lives in Sherman Oaks at "Ell ...Show More
My role in life is to be a burr under the saddle. I didn't pick that for myself, it just happens tha Show more
My role in life is to be a burr under the saddle. I didn't pick that for myself, it just happens that's the way I am. I wish I could be one of the really sweet guys. Nobody ever says a bad thing about people like Robert Bloch and that's because they are really decent, wonderful people. But for me nobody has a good word. That's because my allegiance is to art, to the work, I have no allegiance to magazines, producers, studios, networks or anything. The work is what counts. Hide
To say more, is to say less.
To say more, is to say less.
There are two things I found when I did The Merv Griffin Show (1962), the two things I said that got Show more
There are two things I found when I did The Merv Griffin Show (1962), the two things I said that got them really crazy, was that I didn't believe in God, and that I really believe there are some people who are better than others. Hide
I was giving a lecture, and afterwards a student put up his hand and said, "Mr. Ellison, you keep me Show more
I was giving a lecture, and afterwards a student put up his hand and said, "Mr. Ellison, you keep mentioning this person 'Dachau', like he's someone I'm supposed to have heard of. Who is 'Dachau', please?". I'm sorry, but your kids are stick-stone, out-and-out, downright stupid! Hide
[his feelings about the term "science-fiction"] Call me a "science-fiction" writer and I'll come to Show more
[his feelings about the term "science-fiction"] Call me a "science-fiction" writer and I'll come to your house and nail your pet's head to the table. Hide
The Universe doesn't even know we're here.
The Universe doesn't even know we're here.
[1985 interview in "Starlog"] In real life, we are what we do. I'm a writer. That's what I do. Every Show more
[1985 interview in "Starlog"] In real life, we are what we do. I'm a writer. That's what I do. Everything I do in a day is in some way connected to it. If I get up and I have my Grape Nuts with raisins or I get laid or I shoot some pool or whatever it is that I do, I'm thinking about writing. It's all involved in the creative process. There is no system. The totality that is my life is how I write. When I get up and when I write is different every day, but every day, I write. People say, "Oh, you're so prolific." That's a remark made by assholes who don't write. What else would I be doing? If I were a plumber and I repaired 10,000 toilets, would they say, "Boy, you're a really prolific plumber!" I'm a writer, I have been for 30 years. Hide
The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen . . . and stupidity.
The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen . . . and stupidity.
I don't take a piss without getting paid. People expect everything for nothing. But is Warner Brothe Show more
I don't take a piss without getting paid. People expect everything for nothing. But is Warner Brothers out there with an eyepatch and a tin can on the street? They expect the writer to work for nothing and the problem [is] there are so many goddamn writers who have no idea they're supposed to get paid every time they do something. They do it for nothing. Are they any less a media whore than I? I think not. But it's just that no one has offered to buy their soul. Hide
We're becoming sytematically driven into the ground. Bad taste becomes the order of the day, and peo Show more
We're becoming sytematically driven into the ground. Bad taste becomes the order of the day, and people who object to it, schumcks like me, are suddenly spoilsports. Hide
I don't mind you thinking I'm stupid, but don't talk to me like I'm stupid.
I don't mind you thinking I'm stupid, but don't talk to me like I'm stupid.
You are not entitled to your opinion, you are entitled to your informed opinion. If you are not info Show more
You are not entitled to your opinion, you are entitled to your informed opinion. If you are not informed on the subject, then your opinion counts for nothing. Hide
Don't start an argument with somebody who has a microphone when you don't. They'll make you look lik Show more
Don't start an argument with somebody who has a microphone when you don't. They'll make you look like chopped liver. Hide
[in 1980] There are fewer and fewer people reading today. Clearly. Obviously. Statistics prove it, a Show more
[in 1980] There are fewer and fewer people reading today. Clearly. Obviously. Statistics prove it, and historically what we're doing is we're programming ourselves right into an illiterate no-no land. It's going to be crazier and crazier in this country as the years go by and it shows up in every kind of way. Hide
For a brief time I was here; and for a brief time I mattered.
For a brief time I was here; and for a brief time I mattered.
I think love and sex are separate and only vaguely similar. Like the word bear and the word bare. Yo Show more
I think love and sex are separate and only vaguely similar. Like the word bear and the word bare. You can get in trouble mistaking one for the other. Hide
[on working in Hollywood] This town is filled with weasels and wormers and people who will stab you Show more
[on working in Hollywood] This town is filled with weasels and wormers and people who will stab you in the front if they can't reach your back. Hide
[Star Wars (1977)] is adolescent nonsense; [Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)] is obscuranti Show more
[Star Wars (1977)] is adolescent nonsense; [Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)] is obscurantist drivel; Star Trek (1966) can turn your brains to purée of bat guano; and the greatest science-fiction series of all time is Doctor Who (1963)! And I'll take you all on, one-by-one or in a bunch, to back it up! Hide
Love ain't nothing but sex misspelled.
Love ain't nothing but sex misspelled.
It is very warming and pleasing to be thought to be in the company of Alfred Bester and Andre Norton Show more
It is very warming and pleasing to be thought to be in the company of Alfred Bester and Andre Norton and people like that. But I am conflicted. When you have been the voice of the loyal opposition for 40 years, and suddenly they turn on you and give you an award, it does in some ways make you think it's the end of the road. They only give you these awards when you're in sight of being canned as worm food. And I'm too cranky to go down without a fight. Hide
I hate being wrong, but I love it when I'm set straight.
I hate being wrong, but I love it when I'm set straight.
When belief in a god dies, the god dies.
When belief in a god dies, the god dies.
Harlan Ellison's FILMOGRAPHY
All
as Actor (50)
as Director (1)
as Creator (1)
