Donald George Ingalls (July 29, 1918 – March 10, 2014) was an American screenwriter and television producer. During his 35-year career Ingalls wrote scripts for more than 70 episodes of network television, including Adam-12, Bonanza, The Big Valley, Fantasy Island, Gunsmoke, Have Gun-Will Travel, Honey West, Marcus Welby M.D., Police Story, Serpico, Star Trek, and The Virginian. Ingalls also wrote the script for the movie Airport 1975.

He was a lifelong friend of Gene Roddenberry, having served in the Los Angeles Police Department with him.

Early life and education Ingalls was born in Humboldt, Nebraska on July 29, 1918, the third of Park Louis and Lulu Grace (née Morris) Ingalls' three children. Ingalls spent his childhood living in Stafford, Kansas. The family moved in the 1930s to Los Angeles, California. Ingalls attended North Hollywood High School, and was a reporter for the high school newspaper Blue & Gray.

Military service Ingalls joined the United States Army Air Forces on December 12, 1942 while working as an accountant at the U.S. Civil Service Commission in Washington, DC.

Ingalls served during the Second World War in Europe as a pilot, flying Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses. Following the war, he became a test pilot for North American Aviation.

Early career Ingalls became a police officer and worked under Chief William H. Parker in the Los Angeles Police Department within the Public Information department. Ingalls said "It was a great job. I got to write a lot of different things. It was definitely an exciting field".

Ingalls said the job gave him the experience necessary to excel at writing. “I had never spoken in public before, and here I was writing speeches for the police brass and acting as a spokesman for the department. It really gave me confidence that would later help make me a better writer... I definitely think my experience in the department helped me. I worked on a lot of police shows over the years, and I used my own experiences in my writing".

It was in the police that he met lifelong friend Gene Roddenberry. Both of them transitioned from the Newspaper Unit within the Traffic Department to the new section when Parker was made chief. The pair shared a common background, both of them having been B-17 pilots during the war. Sharing a desire to become writers, they worked together in a single office on the 27th floor of the Los Angeles City Hall. Ingalls was the first to resign from the LAPD to pursue a writing career.

Screenwriting career Television In 1957 Ingalls sold his first script for the ZIV TV show Harbor Command.

Roddenberry and Ingalls had drifted apart following Ingalls' resignation, but reunited early on in their writing careers. Roddenberry was initially the more successful of the two, and recommended Ingalls as story editor to Sam Rolfe on the television series Have Gun – Will Travel. Ingalls' 1957 scripts for Have Gun - Will Travel earned him the position of associate producer. Ingalls became the show's producer in 1962. Roddenberry continued to recommend Ingalls for other screenwriting jobs.

Star Trek Roddenberry began to develop Star Trek and sent Ingalls a series outline, asking him to keep it "very, very confidential".

Ingalls wrote two scripts for Star Trek, the first, "The Alternative Factor". His second script, "A Private Little War", was intended to be a criticism piece on the Vietnam War, but was heavily re-written by Roddenberry. Ingalls was angry at him for a year and insisted on being credited only under the pseudonym "Jud Crucis", Latin for "Justice of the Cross".

Later television He wrote episodes for a variety of television series, and was a producer on shows including T.J. Hooker and Kingston: Confidential. Starting as a writer, then script editor, he became the producer of the ABC network's Fantasy Island. Ingalls said "I started as a writer, became script editor and then producer. I ended up writing more than 30 episodes in seven years".

Films Ingalls also wrote a handful of television movies such as the 1979 Captain America film. He has a single theatrical film credit, Airport 1975 (1974).

Books His final work was the novel, Watchers on the Mountain (2005) a fictional work about the Navajo Nation.

Death He died in 2014 after a long illness at his home in Olympia, Washington.

Filmography

Films Year Film Credit Notes 1970Dial Hot LineStory byTelevision movie, co-wrote story with Carol Sobieski 1972The Bull of the WestScreenplay byTelevision movie, co-wrote screenplay with Richard Fielder 1974Airport 1975Screenplay byBased on the novel Airport By Arthur Hailey 1975A Matter of Wife... and DeathWritten byTelevision movie 1976Flood!Written byTelevision movie 1978The Initiation of SarahScreenplay byTelevision movie, co-wrote screenplay with Carol Saraceno and Kenette Gfeller 1979Captain AmericaWritten byTelevision movie

Television Year TV Series Credit Notes 1957–58Harbor CommandWriter3 episodes 1958–63Have Gun – Will TravelWriter, producer, story editor, script editor, associate producerMultiple episodes1959Tombstone TerritoryWriter1 episodeBat MastersonWriter1 episode1960TateWriter1 episodeDanger ManWriter1 episodeMichael ShayneWriter1 episodeZane Grey TheaterWriter1 episode 1961WhiplashWriter4 episodes 1961–72BonanzaWriter4 episodes 1962ShannonWriter6 episodes 1963–64The Travels of Jaimie McPheetersWriter, producer, associate producer 1963–69The VirginianWriter, producer 1965Daniel BooneWriter1 episode 1965–66Honey WestWriter, associate producer 196612 O'Clock HighAssociate producer11 episodes 1966–69The Big ValleyWriter5 episodes1967GunsmokeWriter2 episodesThe Road WestWriter1 episode 1967–68Star Trek: The Original SeriesWriter2 episodes 1968Cowboy in AfricaWriter1 episode 1969–70Then Came BronsonWriter2 episodes1970Adam-12Writer1 episodeMatt LincolnWriter1 episodeMarcus Welby, M.D.Writer2 episodesThe Silent ForceWriter1 episode 1971The Bold Ones: The New DoctorsWriter1 episode 1971–72The Mod SquadWriter2 episodes 1972The Sixth SenseWriter, executive story consultant, creative consultant 1973The Snoop SistersWriter1 episode 1973–75Police StoryWriter4 episodes1974Doc ElliotWriter1 episodeBorn FreeWriter1 episode 1976SerpicoProducerUnknown episodes 1977Kingston: ConfidentialWriter, producer 1979A Man Called SloaneWriter1 episode 1979–84Fantasy IslandWriter, director, producer, executive story consultant 1985–86T.J. HookerWriter, producer

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