My Take
Dan O'Bannon doesn't get nearly enough credit for reshaping sci-fi horror, and that genuinely bugs me. This guy co-wrote Dark Star with John Carpenter while still a film student at USC, then turned around and gave the world the screenplay for Alien — one of the most perfectly constructed horror scripts ever put on paper, with that slow-burn dread and the stomach-dropping reveal that still hits decades later. And if that weren't enough, he wrote and directed The Return of the Living Dead, which basically invented the "zombies eat brains" trope the entire genre runs on today. Two Hugo Awards and an Inkpot Award to his name, and he still feels undersung. A genuine genre architect who left us in 2009 way too soon.
Overview
Daniel Thomas O'Bannon (September 30, 1946 – December 17, 2009) was an American film screenwriter, director and visual effects supervisor, most closely associated with the science fiction and horror genres. O'Bannon wrote the screenplay for Alien, adapted from a story he wrote with Ronald Shusett. He also wrote and directed the cult horror comedy The Return of the Living Dead.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Dan O'Bannon
- Name (Japanese)
- ダン・オバノン
- Reading
- だん・おばのん
- Born
- September 30, 1946 – December 17, 2009
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Libra / Dog
- Origin
- St. Louis, Missouri, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- screenwriter / film actor / film director / actor / film editor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- McCluer High School
- University
- University of Southern California
Awards & achievements
- 1985 Inkpot Award
- 1980 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
- 1987 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
- Official sitehttp://www.danobannon.com/
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%80%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AA%E3%83%90%E3%83%8E%E3%83%B3
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.