Movies - TV
Narrating The Twilight Zone Was Torture For Rod Serling
By BEN PEARSON
Rod Sterling wrote nearly 100 episodes of "The Twilight Zone" and served as the host and narrator. Despite Sterling's calm appearance on screen, narrating wasn't easy for him.
In Marc Scott Zicree's "The Twilight Zone Companion," he writes that Sterling's hosting role and on-screen work were expanded in the second season, and he did not adapt well.
In the book, director Lamont Johnson recalled, "When he had to do his lead-ins he would go through absolute hell [...] He was terribly ill at ease in front of the camera."
In order to get a usable performance and trick Serling into giving them what they needed, Johnson said, "I'd clown around with him and roll the camera without letting him know.”