Douglas Adams' Birth:
Douglas Adams was born in Cambridge, England on March 11, 1952.
Douglas Adams' Life and Writing:
Douglas Adams was born the son of a nurse and a theology student. He showed promise as a writer early on when he published a story in "Eagle," a British comic book, when was 12 years old. Adams studied at Cambridge, where he also wrote and performed sketch comedy for Footlights, the comedy group that gave rise to Monty Python.
Shortly after Cambridge, Adams partnered with Monthy Python player, Graham Chapman, in a writing relationship that was to be rather short-lived, but got Adams walk-ons in a couple of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes.
At age 24, after numerous rejections of his ideas from television producers, Adams pitched the BBC with his idea for a science fiction comedy series that was originally to be titled, "The Ends of the Earth." The BBC approved the making of the pilot, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was born.
During the making of Hitchhiker's, Adams also worked on episodes of Doctor Who and other sketch radio shows.
Much of the remainder of Adams' career centered on writing the Hitchhiker's books and related projects. Adams was famously late on all his deadlines and more than once had to be locked in an apartment or hotel room by his publishers in order that he get a project completed.
Adams also coauthored the nonfiction book Last Chance to See with zoologist Mark Carwardine about animals threatened by extinction, and two more novels, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and its sequel, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul.
Douglas Adams died of a heart attack in 2001 while working out at his gym in Santa Barbara, California. He was 49 years old.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
Douglas Adams wrote five books in the original series:
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
- The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (1980)
- Life, the Universe and Everything (1982)
- So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish (1984)
- Mostly Harmless (1992)
