Howard Rodman (Feb 18 1920-Dec 4 1985) was an award-winning screenwriter who, under the pseudonym of Henri Simoun, scripted the teleplay for the original 1973 TV movie "The Six Million Dollar Man." In so doing, he essentially created the television version of Martin Caidin's character, as well as supplied the format for the subsequent series. Rodman began his career in the 1950s writing for such noted anthology series of television's early days such as Playhouse 90. In the early 1960's, he continued to polish his work for episodic dramatic TV, becoming a regular contributor to critically acclaimed series such as Naked City and Route 66, as well as serving as story editor for both of those series. This period of his career resulted in a trio of Writer's Guild awards (Annual Best Dramatic Teleplay) for his scripts for Naked City's "Today The Man Who Kills Ants Is Coming (1963)", The Bob Hope Chrysler Theatre's "The Game With Glass Pieces (1965)," and NBC World Premiere's "The Neon Ceiling (1971)". By the 1970's Rodman had become a sought-after writer in the television industry. In addition to The Six Million Dollar Man, Rodman also created the format and scripted the pilot telefilm for the David Janssen vehicle "Harry-O", also using his Simoun pseudonymn. Both pilot films went on to become successful series. In 1976, Rodman was one of several writers approached (and eventually rejected) by Gene Roddenberry for a potential story for the project that eventually became Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Also that year Rodman garnered his fourth writer's guild award, this the Laurel Award for lifetime achievement. His four wins tie him with Harlan Ellison for the most WGA awards ever. Rodman's final screen project was the made-for-TV movie "Scandal Sheet". He died of complications following heart surgery. His son, Howard A. Rodman, is also a noted screenwriter and author.
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