Forrest J Ackerman (born November 24, 1916 in Los Angeles, California) is a legendary science fiction fan and collector of science fiction-related memorabilia. Ackerman, known as "Forry" or "4e" or "4SJ", was influential not only in the origination, organization, and spread of science fiction fandom, but he was also a key figure in the wider cultural acceptance of science fiction as a respectable literary, art and film genre. Ackerman is also known as the editor-writer of the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, as well as an occasional author, actor, producer (Vampirella), and literary agent. November 24 is the 328th day (329th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nickname City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Government Country State County United States California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area  - City    - Land    - Water  - Urban 1,290. ... Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is the community of people actively interested in science fiction and fantasy literature, and in contact with one another based upon that interest. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Famous Monsters of Filmland #14, October 1961 issue. ... Note that this partial list contains some authors whose works of fantastic fiction would today be called science fiction, even if they predate, or did not work in that genre. ... Vampirella is a comic book vampire heroine created by Forrest J. Ackerman for Warren Publishings namesake black-and-white horror-comics magazine, and developed by Archie Goodwin with artists Frank Frazetta and Tom Sutton. ...

Career

Forrest J Ackerman (no period on the middle initial) or, "Mr. Science Fiction," saw his first "imagi-movie" in 1922 (One Glorious Day), purchased his first sci-fi magazine, Amazing Stories, in 1926, created The Boys' Scientifiction Club in 1930 ("girl-fans were as rare as unicorn's horns in those days"), contributed to the first fanzine, The Time Traveller, in 1932, and by 1933 had 127 correspondents around the world. He attended the 1st World Science Fiction Convention in 1939 (where he wore the first "futuristicostume" which sparked fan costuming) and every Worldcon but two since. Amazing Stories magazine, sometimes retitled Amazing Science Fiction, began in April 1926, becoming the first science fiction magazine and one of the pioneers of science fiction in the United States. ... A fanzine (see also: zine) is a nonprofessional publication produced by fans of a particular subject for the pleasure of others who share their interest. ... During the first Worldcon, fans took the opportunity to visit Coney Island: Front: Mark Reinsberg, Jack Agnew, Ross Rocklynne Top: V. Kidwell, Robert A. Madle, Erle Korshak, Ray Bradbury The First World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) was held in the Caravan Hall in New York 2-4 July, 1939, in... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is the longest running science fiction convention, having been held from 1939 to 1941 and, after the interruption of World War II, every year since 1946. ...

Ackerman helped found the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, a prominent regional organization in science fiction fandom, as well as the National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F). He was personally acquainted with many mid-twentieth-century writers of science fiction. He is noted for having amassed an extremely large and complete collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror film memorabilia, which was, until 2002, maintained in a remarkable home/museum known as the 18-room "Ackermansion" in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles, filled with 300,000 pieces of movie memorabilia. He has entertained approximately 50,000 fans at open houses since 1951, including 186 fans and pros in one memorable night, including astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Ackerman is a board member of the Seattle Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, where many items of his own collection are displayed. Ackerman received the first Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer, in 1946. The Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society or LASFS is a private club in North Hollywood, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, California. ... The National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F) is one of the worlds oldest fandom organizations. ... // For other meanings see Fantasy (disambiguation) Fantasy is a genre of art, literature, film, television, games and music that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of either plot, theme, setting, or all three. ... DVD cover showing horror characters as depicted by Universal Studios. ... Los Feliz is a neighborhood in the north-central region of the city of Los Angeles, California. ... Colonel Buzz Eugene Aldrin, Sc. ... Seattle redirects here. ... Sculpture near the entrance of the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame bills itself as the worlds premiere science fiction museum. ... Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. ...

Ackerman is credited with nurturing and even inspiring the careers of several early contemporaries^{[citation needed]} like Ray Bradbury, Ray Harryhausen, Charles Beaumont, Marion Zimmer Bradley and L. Ron Hubbard of Scientology fame. He was Ed Wood, Jr.'s "illiterary" agent and represents 200 authors of science fiction and fantasy. Ackerman is also notable for having coined the term "sci-fi" by analogy with "hi-fi". Although many serious science fiction fans hated the phrase, considering it gimmicky and disrespectful, it gained widespread usage by the early 1960s. Harlan Ellison has derided it as a "hideous neologism" that "sounds like crickets fucking," a comment to which Ackerman fans responded by producing buttons bearing the slogan, "I love copulating crickets." Ray Bradbury in 1945. ... Ray Harryhausen (born June 29, 1920 in Los Angeles, California) is an American producer and, most notably, a special effects creator. ... Charles Beaumont (January 2, 1929 - February 21, 1967) was a prolific U.S. author of fantasy and science fiction short stories who frequently wrote for The Twilight Zone TV series and also scripts for such films as The Masque of the Red Death. ... Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley (June 3, 1930 - September 25, 1999) was a prolific author of largely feminist fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and was a steadfast encourager of equality (and quality) in writing. ... Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (13 March 1911 – 24 January 1986), better known as L. Ron Hubbard, was a prolific American author and founder of Scientology and Dianetics. ... Scientology is a system of beliefs and practices created by American pulp fiction[1] author L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as a self-help philosophy. ... Edward D. Wood, Jr. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... Harlan Jay Ellison (born May 27, 1934) is a prolific American writer of short stories, novellas, essays and criticism. ...

Ackerman has had 50 stories published, including collaborations with A. E. van Vogt, Francis Flagg, Robert A. W. Lowndes, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Donald Wolheim and Catherine Moore and the world's shortest — one letter of the alphabet. His stories have been translated into six languages. Ackerman is fluent in the "universal language" Esperanto. Ackerman named the sexy comic-book character Vampirella and wrote the origin story for the comic. Alfred Elton van Vogt (Winnipeg, Canada, April 26, 1912 - Los Angeles, USA, January 26, 2000) was a renowned Canadian-born science fiction author widely regarded as one of the most prolific, yet complex, writers from the mid-twentieth century Golden Age of the genre. ... Look up Esperanto in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Vampirella is a comic book vampire heroine created by Forrest J. Ackerman for Warren Publishings namesake black-and-white horror-comics magazine, and developed by Archie Goodwin with artists Frank Frazetta and Tom Sutton. ...

Through his magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland (1958-1983), Forrest J Ackerman introduced the history of the science fiction, fantasy and horror film genres to a generation of young readers. At a time when most movie-related publications glorified the stars in front of the camera, "Uncle Forry", as he's referred to by many of his fans, promoted the behind-the-scenes artists involved in the magic of movies. In this way Ackerman provided inspiration to many who would later become successful artists, including Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Stephen King, Penn & Teller, Billy Bob Thornton, Gene Simmons (of the band Kiss), Rick Baker, George Lucas, Danny Elfman, Frank Darabont, John Landis and countless other writers, directors, artists and craftsmen. Famous Monsters of Filmland #14, October 1961 issue. ...

In the 1970s, Ackerman organized the publication of an English translation in the U.S. of the German science fiction series Perry Rhodan, the longest science fiction series in history. His German-speaking wife Wendayne ("Wendy") did most of the translation. The American books were issued with varying frequency from one to as many as four per month. Ackerman also used the paperback series to promote science fiction short stories, including his own on occasion. The American series was never a major commercial success, and eventually lost its publishing outlets around issue #120 (the original German series continues today and passed issue #2300 in 2005). Perry Rhodan is the worlds most prolific literary science fiction (SF) series, published since 1961 in Germany. ...

Ackerman says, "I aim at hitting 100 and becoming the George Burns of science fiction". George Burns, born Nathan Birnbaum (January 20, 1896 – March 9, 1996), was an American comedian and actor, arguably the greatest straight man of 20th-century American comedy. ...

Ackerman currently lives in the new "Acker-mini-mansion" in Hollywood where he continues to entertain and inspire fans weekly with his amazing collection of memorabilia and priceless stories of the golden age of art, filmmaking, literature and all things fantastical.

Appearances

Ackerman himself appeared as a character in The Vampire Affair by David McDaniel, a novel in the Man from U.N.C.L.E. series, as well as in Philip José Farmer's novel Blown. A character based on Ackerman, and his "Ackermansion", appeared in the Niven/Pournelle collaboration "Fallen Angels". David Edward McDaniel (1944(?)-November 1, 1977) was a US science fiction author. ... Rare childrens storybook based upon Left to right: David McCallum, Robert Vaughn, and the late Leo G. Carroll. ... Philip José Farmer (born January 26, 1918) is an American author, principally known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. ...

A life-long fan of science fiction "B-movies", Ackerman has had cameos in over 210 films, including bit parts in many monster movies (The Howling, Return of the Living Dead Part II), more traditional "imagi-movies" (The Power, The Time Travelers), spoofs (Amazon Women on the Moon, Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold), and at least one major music video ((Michael Jackson's Thriller. The term B-movie originally referred to a film designed to be distributed as the lower half of a double feature, often a genre film featuring cowboys, gangsters or vampires. ... The Howling is a 1981 horror film directed by Joe Dante. ... Return of the Living Dead is a series of films that was produced between 1985-2005. ... The article is about the Frank M. Robinson science fiction novel and 1968 film. ... The Time Traveller was one of the earliest science fiction fanzines, started in 1932. ... Amazon Women on the Moon is a 1987 movie written by comedy duo Michael Barrie and Jim Mulholland. ... Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold is a 1995 science fiction film starring J.J North, Ted Monte, Tammy Parks, Raelyn Saalman, Nikki Fritz, John Lazar, Michelle Bauer, Tim Abelland Jay Richardson. ... For other people with the same name, see Michael Jackson (disambiguation) Michael Joseph Jackson (born August 29, 1958) is an American musician and entertainer whose successful music career and controversial personal life have been at the forefront of pop culture for the last quarter-century. ... The fourteen-minute Michael Jackson Thriller music video, better known as Michael Jacksons Thriller, directed by John Landis, is often hailed as the best and most popular music video of all time. ...

Works

Pseudonyms

Weaver Wright, Spencer Strong, Walter Chinwell, Allis Villette, Alus Kerlay, Laurajean Ermayne, Alden Lorraine, J. Forrester Eckman, Fisher Trentworth, SF Balboa, Hubert G. Wells, Jacues De Forest Erman, Jone Lee Heard

Non-fiction

• A Reference Guide to American Science Fiction Films
• The Frankenscience Monster
• Forrest J Ackerman's Worlds of Science Fiction
• Famous Forrie Fotos: Over 70 Years of Ackermemories
• Mr. Monster's Movie Gold, A Treasure-Trove Of Imagi-Movies
• Worlds of Tomorrow: the Amazing Universe of Science Fiction Art
• Lon of 1000 Faces
• Famous Monster of Filmland #1: An encyclopedia of the first 50 issues
• Famous Monster of Filmland #2: An encyclopedia of issue 50-100
• Metropolis by Thea von Harbou - intro and "stillustration" by FJ Ackerman

Anthologies

• Rainbow Fantasia: 35 Spectrumatic Tales of Wonder
• Science Fiction Worlds of Forrest J. Ackerman
• Best Science Fiction for 1973
• The Gernsback Awards Vol. 1, 1926
• Gosh! Wow! (Sense of Wonder) Science Fiction'"
• Reel futures
• I, Vampire: Interviews with the Undead
• Ackermanthology: Millennium Edition: 65 Astonishing Rediscovered Sci-Fi Shorts
• Ackerwomanthology
• Martianthology
• Film Futures

Short stories

• Nyusa, Nymph of Darkness
• The Shortest Story Ever Told
• A Martian Oddity
• Earth's Lucky Day
• The Record
• Micro Man
• Tarzan and the Golden Loin
• Dhactwhu!-Remember?
• Kiki
• The Mute Question
• Atoms and Stars
• The Lady Takes a Powder
• Sabina of the White Cylinder
• What an Idea!
• Death Rides the Spaceways
• Dwellers in the Dust
• Burn Witch, Burn
• Yvala
• The Girl Who Wasn't There
• Count Down to Doom
• Time to Change
• And Then the Cover Was Bare
• The Atomic Monument
• Letter to an Angel
• The Man Who Was Thirsty
• The Radclyffe Effect
• Cosmic Report Card: Earth
• Great Gog's Grave
• The Naughty Venuzian

External links

• 4e's Foyer: biography
• SFSite: Gary Westfahl's Biographical Encylopedia
• DragonCon 2005: bio of guest Forrest J. Ackerman
• Forrest J. Ackerman at The Internet Movie Database
• Forrest J. Ackerman at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database