Known for Writing
Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is best known as the author of I Am Legend, a 1954 science fiction horror novel that has been adapted for the screen three times, the first of which, The Last Man on Earth, was co-scripted by him and starred Vincent Price. (The other two adaptations are The Omega Man with Charlton Heston and I Am Legend with Will Smith.) Matheson also wrote 16 television episodes of The Twilight Zone, including "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and "Steel", as well as several adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories for Roger Corman and American International Pictures – House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, Tales of Terror and The Raven. He adapted his 1971 short story "Duel" as a screenplay directed by Steven Spielberg for the television film Duel that year. In addition, to I Am Legend and Duel, nine more of his novels and short stories have been adapted as motion pictures: The Shrinking Man (filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man), Hell House (filmed as The Legend of Hell House), What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return (filmed as Somewhere in Time), A Stir of Echoes, Steel (filmed as Real Steel), and Button, Button (filmed as The Box). The movie Cold Sweat was based on his novel Riding the Nightmare, and Les seins de glace ("Icy Breasts") was based on his novel Someone is Bleeding. Both Steel and Button, Button had previously been episodes of The Twilight Zone. Description above from the Wikipedia article Richard Matheson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Born
February 20, 1926
Died
June 23, 2013 (age 87)
Birthplace
Allendale, New Jersey, USA
Filmography
74 films, 21 shows


Trilogy of Terror II
1996 · 1h 30m
country: Canada
Three tales of terror: in "The Graveyard Rats" lovers murder the woman's older husband and encounter horror when they attempt to rob his grave; "Bobby" is the story of a woman who summons her son back from the dead; and in "He Who Kills" an African doll goes on a murderous rampage.


The Dreamer of Oz
1990 · 1h 40m
country: United States
The film is the biography of Frank Baum, the children's book author and creator of the fantasy world Oz.


Jaws 3-D
1983 · 1h 38m
country: United States
A giant thirty-five-foot shark becomes trapped in a SeaWorld theme park and it's up to the sons of police chief Brody to rescue everyone.


Twilight Zone: The Movie
1983 · 1h 41m
country: United States
An anthology film presenting remakes of three episodes from the "Twilight Zone" TV series—"Kick the Can", "It's a Good Life" and "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"—and one original story, "Time Out."


Somewhere in Time
1980 · 1h 43m
country: United States
Young writer Richard Collier is met on the opening night of his first play by an old lady who begs him to "Come back to me". Mystified, he tries to find out about her, and learns that she is a famous stage actress from the early twentieth century. Becoming more and more obsessed with her, by self-hypnosis he manages to travel back in time—where he meets her.


Trilogy of Terror
1975 · 1h 12m
country: United States
A horror anthology containing three stories: a female college professor is aggressively pursued by one of her students; a prudish brunette determines that her free-spirited blonde sister is evil; and a woman's night turns upside down after she purchases an ancient Zuni fetish doll.


The Legend of Hell House
1973 · 1h 35m
country: United Kingdom
A team consisting of a physicist, his wife, a young female psychic, and the only survivor of the previous visit are sent to the notorious Hell House to prove or disprove survival after death. Previous visitors have either been killed or gone mad, and it is up to the team to survive a full week in isolation, and solve the mystery of the Hell House.


Duel
1971 · 1h 14m
country: United States
Traveling businessman David Mann angers the driver of a rusty tanker while crossing the California desert. A simple trip turns deadly, as Mann struggles to stay on the road while the tanker plays cat and mouse with his life.


De Sade
1969 · 1h 53m
country: Germany
The 18th-century French marquis recalls his sadomasochistic experiments and goes to jail for lewd behavior.


The Devil Rides Out
1968 · 1h 36m
country: United Kingdom
The powers of good are pitted against the forces of evil as the Duc de Richelieu wrestles with the charming but deadly Satanist, Mocata, for the soul of his friend. Mocata has the knowledge and the power to summon the forces of darkness and, as the Duc de Richelieu and his friends remain within the protected pentacle, they are subjected to ever-increasing horror until thundering hooves herald the arrival of the Angel of Death.


Fanatic
1965 · 1h 37m
country: United Kingdom
A young woman is terrorized by her former fiance's demented mother who blames her for her son's death. Also known as Die! Die! My Darling!


The Last Man on Earth
1964 · 1h 27m
country: United States
When a disease turns all of humanity into the living dead, the last man on earth becomes a reluctant vampire hunter.


The Comedy of Terrors
1964 · 1h 24m
country: United States
An undertaker who hasn't had any 'customers' in a long time is forced to pay one year's back-rent. To get money he starts to kill people, which brings absurd results.


The Raven
1963 · 1h 26m
country: United States
A magician who has been turned into a raven turns to a former sorcerer for help.


Tales of Terror
1962 · 1h 29m
country: United States
Three stories adapted from the work of Edgar Allen Poe: 1) A man and his daughter are reunited, but the blame for the death of his wife hangs over them, unresolved. 2) A derelict challenges the local wine-tasting champion to a competition, but finds the man's attention to his wife worthy of more dramatic action. 3) A man dying and in great pain agrees to be hypnotized at the moment of death, with unexpected consequences.


The Pit and the Pendulum
1961 · 1h 20m
country: United States
In the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumstances of his sister's death after she had married the son of a cruel Spanish Inquisitor.


Master of the World
1961 · 1h 42m
country: United States
A mad genius tries to bomb the world into peace.


The Incredible Shrinking Man
1957 · 1h 21m
country: United States
A dangerous combination of radiation and insecticide causes the unfortunate Scott Carey to shrink, slowly but surely, until he is only a few inches tall. His home becomes a wilderness where he must survive everything from spiders living in the cellar to his beloved cat.