DC Fontana, first female 'Star Trek' writer, dies at 80

Dorothy Catherine "DC" Fontana, the first female writer for "Star Trek", has died. She was 80. According to the Star Trek website, Fontana died on Monday evening following a short illness.

The writer penned numerous stories for the original "Star Trek" TV series, and developed one of its signature characters, Spock. She wrote 1967's "Journey to Babel," which introduced Spock's father Sarek and mother Amanda. Fontana also worked on the "Star Trek" animated series and wrote the classic 1973 episode "Yesteryear," in which Spock travels back in time to save a younger version of himself.

She played an important role in changing the face of the sci-fi franchise when she co-wrote "Encounter at Farpoint," the two-part pilot for "Star Trek: The Next Generation", which introduced Patrick Stewart's Captain Picard. In recent years she was working as a lecturer in the Screenwriting department at the American Film Institute Conservatory.

In addition to the "Star Trek" franchise, she was credited with writing or co-writing numerous episodes of "The Six Million Dollar Man," "The Fantastic Journey," "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," "The War of the Worlds," "Babylon 5," "Earth: Final Conflict" and "Logan's Run". Fontana is survived by her husband, the Academy Award-winning visual effects cinematographer Dennis Skotak.

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