Just recently learned that Anthony Lawrence, co-creator of 70s/80s TV series 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙞𝙭𝙩𝙝 𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 and 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙝𝙤𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙭 with wife Nancy, passed away this last January with no media coverage. He was 96. He was a prolific TV writer of westerns, drama, and sci-fi, contributing well over 100 hours of episodic television to our broadcast history. This includes eps of The Outer Limits, Bonanza, The Rat Patrol, Hawaii Five-0, and many others.
A few years before his passing, he had a surprise visitor at the Motion Picture Home, as a fan named Chris wanted to meet him. During his hour-long visit, Chris revealed himself to be a huge follower of Lawrence's career, knowing he was one of the pioneers of 60s/70s sci-fi/fantasy TV. A British Gen Xer, Chris played with his father's old Super 8 camera from a young age and grew up watching many of Lawrence's shows such as The Sixth Sense and The Phoenix. Chris later studied film at UCL and made his first feature in 1998 on a budget of $6000. That visitor was Christopher Nolan, who has either directed or been involved with a dozen of the highest grossing films of the past two decades.
Lawrence's son "Fireball" Tim designs vehicles as a concept artist and has done so for some 400 film/TV productions as well as Disney parks. You may have seen him host shows like World's Most Expensive Rides.
Anthony Lawrence also found love (again) late in life after the passing of his wife Nancy. He and Madeline Smith were the first residents to meet and marry at the Motion Picture Retirement Home in 2016.
The Phoenix was considered in a 2018 episode of Forgotten TV.
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