Talk:Harlan Ellison

The Asimov story

Am trying to determine if the infamous anecdote concerning Dr. A did indeed take place back in the 60's. According to legend, he and a group of sycophants were approached by a fresh-faced Harlan at his first convention. Harlan kow-towed and simpered "are you really Issac Asimov?" "Indeed, I am" Basked the literary giant. "well..." Harlan pauses for effect " Ijust think you're shit!" Turns around and walks off. Leaving a blubbering Asimov with a mouth full of rocks. Even if its not true it still sounds exactly like Harlan. ~2026-41663-55 (talk) 23:28, 27 July 2026 (UTC)

WP:NOTAFORUM, but check out Asimov's 1967 foreword in Dangerous Visions. Both men comment on the incident, w/ different wording, and Asimov claims it took place "a little over a decade ago". Moscow Mule (talk) 00:07, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

Network executive assault story

OK, so is there a RS of the story of Ellison running on top of a conference table at an exec who called him a 'hack' or 'flunkie' and which ended with the exec suing Irwin Allen because Ellison's collision with him caused a model of the USOS Seaview to fall off the wall and break his hip? Or is this just an unfounded legend? If true it ought to be in this article. Tfdavisatsnetnet (talk) 04:30, 11 December 2022 (UTC)

Sexual assault

I have heard that Ellison often and regularly committed sexual offences against underage boys and girls in the 70s. Is there anything documented about this? 2003:D5:D746:EB06:CC1A:FB14:DE26:9D18 (talk) 00:17, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

I've been looking into him for a little while now, and as far as I can tell, no. Where did you "hear" this? Geepaws (talk) 23:26, 9 February 2025 (UTC)

Bipolar disorder

J. Michael Straczynski's 56-page essay "Ellison Exegesis" at the start of The Last Dangerous Visions anthology (just published Ashland, OR : Blackstone, 2024, ISBN: 9798212183796) goes into deep and frank detail about Ellison's mental health and his eventual diagnosis of bipolar disorder, mention of which should probably work its way into Ellison's biography here as a counterweight to some of the controversies. 68.65.37.30 (talk) 21:25, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

Man stalking him with a gun outside his home

Tried to find out truth of Ellison’s report in an interview that he captured a man stalking him with a gun outside his home. There seems to be some proof, but not a good source, and he is a writer, so the story or some details probably are made up. Is there a source for this? AI hasn’t one, but indicates there is some truth to it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:645:C684:8710:914:968:7F8:C3DF (talk) 18:08, 26 July 2025 (UTC)

Georges Melies Fantasy Film Award

Many sources have reported that Ellison has been awarded this award twice, but no one else appears to have received it. The earliest source I found is in Omni's Screen Flights/Screen Fantasies: The Future According to Science Fiction Cinema (1984, p. 1), in the editor’s note about Ellison:

Harlan Ellison has won numerous writing awards, including the Hugo (7½ times), the Nebula (three times), the Hollywood Writers Guild award for most outstanding teleplay (three times), and the Georges Méliès fantasy film award (two times). He has written film and television scripts, more than one thousand stories, and thirty-eight books, including The Glass Teat, The Other Glass Teat, Spider Kiss, Deathbird Stories, Strange Wine, Approaching Oblivion, Ellison Wonderland, All The Lies That Are My Life, and Shatterday.

Einstein95 (talk) 20:50, 17 October 2025 (UTC)

Curious. The Méliès d'Or do exist ("for science fiction, fantasy, and horror films"), but the Omni reference above predates the creation date given in that article. harlanellison.com identifies them as 1972, for Demon..., and 1973, for City..., if that's any help. Moscow Mule (talk) 21:46, 17 October 2025 (UTC)

I believe to have found the source for the awards, or at least the 1972 one for Demon...: In the pulp magazine The Monster Times, v01n17 has the following quote when talking about the "first annual Science Fiction and Fantasy Film convention" (organised by Fantasy Film Fans International), held at the Ambassador Hotel on November 24–26, 1972:

SPECIAL GUESTS AND AWARDS: There will be three special guests at the convention: George Pal, representing science fiction, Chuck Jones, representing animation and John Carradine, representing supernatural. A new series of awards, THE GEORGE MELIES AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CINEMATIC ACHIEVEMENTS, will be presented in three categories: science fiction, fantasy and supernatural and horror. Each category will give two awards, one for television presentations and one for theatrical presentations.

The awards being held was confirmed by one Frankie Larkin, reporting in Nostalgia News #19, and Hollywood Studio Magazine (November 1973) who also lists a couple of the non-Ellison winners.

The "International Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Convention" was held on November 23–25, 1973 at the Los Angeles Hyatt Regency Hotel, according to Worlds of IF. At some point in time it was known as "Filmcon".

So the question is: Do fan-organised convention awards count?

-Einstein95 (talk) 06:15, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

I hope "fan-organised convention awards" do count, lest we have to delete his 7½ Hugos, too. Less facetiously, this is a very obscure and presumably short-lived award, but you've done sterling work digging out the facts behind the matter (kudos!) and I don't see why the references you've come up with can't be used to cite the award on the article. Working on your findings on archive.org, The Monster Times Famous Monsters of Filmland (No. 107, p. 45) gives the award winners for the second con in 1973 ("City..." et al.) and also identifies the prize with (yet an)other name, the "Hall of Fame (Melies) Awards". It's also interesting to note that there were also "contemporary Fantasy Film & TV awards" given out on the same occasion, for works first released in 1973 or thereabouts: the winners of the Melies were all from years before. (And today's learning is, it's all out there if you know how to look.) Moscow Mule (talk) 23:05, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

So, if the aim is to re-include them (is it?), and in the absence of a smoking gun for "Demon", would the following work?

Georges Melies Award

• "Demon with a Glass Hand" (The Outer Limits) (Achievement in Science Fiction Television, 1972)
• "The City on the Edge of Forever" (Star Trek) (Achievement in Science Fiction Television, 1973)

In other words, still referencing Webderland (as do a lot of other awards in the article) but with the link to Famous Monsters of Filmland as supporting evidence of the actual existence – at some point – of the award? Moscow Mule (talk) 01:38, 24 October 2025 (UTC)

I'd be happy with that. -Einstein95 (talk) 10:33, 25 October 2025 (UTC)

Done. Moscow Mule (talk) 23:00, 25 October 2025 (UTC)

References

"Harlan Ellison®" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Harlan Ellison® has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2026 January 16 § harlan ellison® until a consensus is reached. consarn _{(talck) (contirbuton s)} 18:23, 16 January 2026 (UTC)