Larry DiTillio

Larry DiTillio attended the film school at New York University for four years. He then spent an additional two years at UCLA's film school.

After graduating, DiTillio decided to make a career as a Hollywood writer. He knocked on agency doors until he found an agent willing and able to find him work as a film writer. DiTillio wrote for both television and movies in the 1970s, including a stint on Filmation's Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. He then became a staff writer for the original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series and over its two seasons, wrote 17 episodes, more than anyone else. He also directed one episode.

During a writers' strike in 1983, DiTillio searched for other ways to generate income through writing, so he was hired by Flying Buffalo.{{Cite book|first=Shannon |last=Appelcline|title=Designers & Dragons|publisher=Mongoose Publishing|year=2011| isbn= 978-1-907702-58-7}}{{rp|37}} DiTillio wrote The Isle of Darksmoke (1984), the final multiplayer Tunnels & Trolls adventure that Flying Buffalo published.{{rp|38}} DiTillio also collaborated with Lynn Willis to create the world-spanning campaign Masks of Nyarlathotep (1984) for Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, which author Shannon Appelcine states is considered one of the best roleplaying adventures of all time,{{rp|86}} and won an Origins Award.{{cite web|url=http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/1996/list-of-winners |publisher=Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design |title=Origins Award Winners (1996) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221022725/http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/1996/list-of-winners |archive-date=2007-12-21 }} For a few months, DiTillio was also a contributor to Chaosium's Different Worlds magazine, writing about news from the world of film and television in his "The Sword of Hollywood" column.{{cite web | url =http://dmmagazine.blogspot.com/2019/03/larry-ditillio-passed-away.html | title =Larry DiTiilio Passed Away | date =2019-03-17 | website =Dungeon Master Magazine | access-date =2020-04-11}} Other Chaosium titles he wrote or contributed to, include; The Grey Knight, the first adventure for the Pendragon role-playing game, Demon Magic: The Second Stormbringer Companion for the Stormbringer fantasy role-playing game, and the Call of Cthulhu supplement Terror Australis.{{cite web | url =https://www.chaosium.com/bloglarry-ditillio-visionary-game-designer-and-writer-19402019/ | title =Larry DiTillio, Visionary Game Designer and Writer, 1940-2019 | last =Mason | first =Mike | date =2019-03-17 | website =Chaosium | access-date =2020-04-11}}

Despite his success in the role-playing games industry, once the screenwriters' strike ended, DiTillio went back to screenwriting.{{cite magazine|last=Faragher|first=Steve | date=March 1997 |title=The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep|magazine=Arcane|publisher=Future Publishing|issue=17|pages=56–57}}

In 1985, he wrote the feature-length film He-Man and She-Ra: Secret of the Sword. Following its release, he and J. Michael Straczynski became writers for Filmation's spin-off show She-Ra: Princess of Power. DiTillio created the show bible for the spinoff show and invented most of the character names.{{Cite book|title=Creating the Filmation Generation|last=Scheimer|first=Lou|publisher=Two Morrows Publishing|year=2012|isbn=978-1605490441}}{{page needed|date=January 2024}} Straczynski later recalled the considerable time DiTillio spent writing character background for the show. "One of the things Larry and I decided, very early on, was that She-Ra couldn't just be 'He-Man with boobs.' The show had to go deeper than that, especially given that we were creating this for a female lead character."{{cite web | url =https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/larry-ditillio-she-ra-he-man-obituary-j-michael-straczynski | title =Larry DiTillio, co-creator of She-Ra and well-known genre TV writer has passed away | last =Weiss | first =Josh | date =2019-03-17 | website =SyFy Wire | access-date =2020-04-11}} However, when Filmation refused to give them credit on-screen, both left, finding work with DIC Entertainment on Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors.

In 1993, DiTillio worked with Straczynski again, this time on the science-fiction series Babylon 5, with Straczynski as producer and DiTillio the executive story editor.{{rp|41}} DiTillio also worked on the animated series Beast Wars, writing or co-writing most of the episodes.{{rp|41}} In 2002, he was a writer for the updated He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series.

DiTillio died at the age of 71 on March 16, 2019.

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|name=Larry DiTillio|id=0228489}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311080619/http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/wolfman/103937588078098.htm Interview with Larry DiTillio], by Marv Wolfman
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201139/http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=263 Roleplaying game credits]
• [http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=662 Creating the Filmmation Generation]

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Category:1948 births

Category:2019 deaths

Category:20th-century American screenwriters

Category:21st-century American screenwriters

Category:American science fiction writers

Category:American male screenwriters

Category:American television writers

Category:Place of birth missing

Category:Chaosium game designers

Category:American male novelists

Category:Place of death missing

Category:American male television writers

Category:Filmation people

Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease in the United States