Herbert Wright (producer)
Herbert Wright (born November 9, 1947, in Columbus, Indiana-died August 24, 2005) was a science fiction writer and producer. His most notable work was for Star Trek: The Next Generation and War of the Worlds. He also directed a few episodes of the latter series and even both wrote and directed the season finale "The Angel of Death," which guest-starred his second wife Elaine Giftos. Among Star Trek fans he is known as the "Father of the Ferengi" and was known behind the scenes for his unique storytelling that he himself called "weird shit."
Other work of his includes Rod Serling's Night Gallery, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Stingray, Hunter, McCloud, and the Flipper revival series.
Another series he worked on (but off television) was Mars and Beyond, which also featured Giftos and was distributed on his Cyber Sci-Fi Network.
Wright also had a strong friendship with Gene Roddenberry. The two met while Roddenberry was making The Questor Tapes. Wright showed a great interest in the story, and was to contribute to the series that was planned to follow, but never got the chance as the project fell apart owing to Roddenberry's conflicts with the studio. Though Roddenberry considered the series to be dead, the show stuck with Wright, who had hopes that it could be revived. When the rights finally fell back to the Roddenberry family in the 2000s, Wright secured the option to the property and set out to finally produce the series, making it more contemporary while still staying true to Roddenberry's vision. During the initial production stages, Wright became ill before dying in Woodland Hills, California, on August 24, 2005, at the age of 57.
