Gilbert Alexander Ralston (January 5, 1912 – March 18, 1999) was a British-American screenwriter, journalist and author. He was a television producer in the 1950s and a screenwriter in the 1960s. He created the television series The Wild Wild West and wrote scripts for Star Trek, Gunsmoke, Ben Casey, I Spy, which was based on the 1968 novel Ratman's Notebooks written by Stephen Gilbert.
Ralston said he then created the Civil War characters, the format, the story outline and nine drafts of the script that was the basis for the television series. It was his idea, for example, to have a secret agent named Jim West who would perform secret missions for U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant.
Ralston's experience brought to light a common Hollywood practice of the 1950s and 1960s, where television writers who helped create popular series allowed producers or studios to take credit for said series, thus depriving the writers of any royalties.
Outcome of court case
Ralston died in 1999 before his lawsuit was settled. Warner Brothers ended up paying Ralston's family between $600,000 and $1.5 million.
Filmography
Films
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Film !! Credit !! Notes
|-
| 1968
|Kona Coast
|Written by
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1971
|The Hunting Party
|Written by
|
|-
|Willard
|Screenplay by
|based on the novel Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert
|-
| 1972
|Ben
|Written by
|based on characters created by Stephen Gilbert
|-
| 1976
|Special Delivery
|Written by
|
|-
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! TV series !! Credit !! Notes
|-
| 1952–53
|Your Jeweler's Showcase
|Producer
|28 episodes
|-
| 1952–54
|Cavalcade of America
|Producer
|14 episodes
|-
| 1953
|General Electric Theater
|Producer
|12 episodes
|-
| 1955–57
|Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion
|Producer, Executive Producer
|37 episodes
|-
| 1957
|High Adventure with Lowell Thomas
|Producer
|
|-
| 1961
|Bus Stop
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
| 1961–62
|Naked City
|Writer
|7 episodes
|-
| 1961–64
|Ben Casey
|Writer
|16 episodes
|-
| rowspan=2|1962
|Route 66
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
|Target: The Corruptors!
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
| 1962–63
|The Untouchables
|Writer
|2 episodes
|-
| rowspan=2|1963
|Alcoa Premiere
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
|Wide Country
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
| rowspan=2|1964
|The Richard Boone Show
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
|Suspense
|Producer
|1 episode
|-
| rowspan=8|1965
|Alfred Hitchcock Presents
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
|Burke's Law
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
|Gunsmoke
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
|I Spy
|Writer
|2 episodes
|-
|Mr. Novak
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
|Slattery's People
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
|The Wild Wild West
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
|12 O'Clock High
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
| rowspan=2|1966
|Combat!
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
|Laredo
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
| 1966–67
|The Big Valley
|Writer
|3 episodes
|-
| rowspan=3|1967
|Insight
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
|Iron Horse
|Writer
|2 episodes
|-
|Star Trek
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
| 1967–68
|Gentle Ben
|Writer
|5 episodes
|-
| 1968
|Land of the Giants
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
| rowspan=2|1969
|Hawaii Five-O
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
|The Name of the Game
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
| 1971
|O'Hara, U.S. Treasury
|Writer
|2 episodes
|-
| 1972
|Nichols
|Writer
|1 episode
|-
|}