Ib Melchior Biography

Fast Facts

• Served in the U․S․ Army during World War II as a counterintelligence agent, earning a Bronze Star for his efforts
• Was named Knight Commander of the Militant Order of Saint Brigitte of Sweden in 1965
• Won the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films' Golden Scroll Award for outstanding achievement in 1976
• Son of Metropolitan Opera star Lauritz Melchior and Danish musical comedy singer Inger Melchior
• In addition to "The Time Travelers," his adaptation of H․G․ Wells' "The Time Machine," he also directed 1959's "The Angry Red Planet," a film about the survivors of a Martian expedition
• Best known as a screenwriter and director who wrote "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" and "The Time Travelers," as well as the short story on which "Death Race 2000" was based
• Claimed to have come up with the original ideas for both "Lost in Space" and "Star Trek," both of which were produced after he pitched similar concepts to producers Irwin Allen and Gene Roddenberry, respectively