George Clayton Johnson is a science fiction writer most famous for his novel and screenplay Logan's Run but also known for his work in television, writing screenplays for such noted series as The Twilight Zone and Star Trek.

Born in a barn in Cheyenne, Wyoming on July 10, 1929 he had to repeat the sixth grade and dropped out of school entirely in the eighth. He briefly served in the Army and worked as an architect before deciding he wanted to become a writer. To this end he joined a circle of Southern California science-fiction writers that included Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson and Ray Bradbury. Through them he met Rod Serling, to whom he sold his first story ("All of us Are Dying", produced as The Four of Us Are Dying) and, later, his first teleplay (A Penny for Your Thoughts). In 1960 a story of his served as the basis for the Rat Pack movie Ocean's Eleven.

"For me, fantasy must be about something, otherwise it's foolishness... ultimately it must be about human beings, it must be about the human condition, it must be another look at infinity, it must be another way of seeing the paradox of existence."
—George Clayton Johnson quoted in The Twilight Zone Companion