D.C. Fontana Biography

Dorothy “D.C.” Fontana was a script writer and story editor for the original television series Star Trek (1966-69) whose long career behind the scenes shaped the franchise from the beginning.

Fontana wrote fiction from a young age but began her career from secretarial school in New York City. That led to a job at Screen Gems, and she never left the world of television production.

She relocated to Los Angeles in the 1950s, then worked as a secretary and sold a few scripts for westerns before going to work for Gene Roddenberry. He encouraged her to write and in 1963 brought her in on his early idea for Star Trek.

It finally made it to air in 1966, and its three year run became the TV legend that spawned movies, cartoons, merchandise and more and more TV shows.

Because Fontana’s writing credit was as “D.C. Fontana,” most fans had no idea their favorite episodes were written by a woman until years later. As story editor, she helped guide character deevelopment, plot structure and the morality of the Star Trek universe.

Fontana is credited with fleshing out the character of Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy) and furthering the background of Vulcan culture. She in turn has given credit to the actors for their contributions in creating the backstory of each character.

Although her career was intertwined with Star Trek and Roddenberry (surviving acrimony between the two during Star Trek: The Next Generation), Fontana also wrote episodes several other TV shows, including Bonanza, Kung Fu, The Six Million Dollar Man and Babylon 5.