Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton was the only creative artist ever to have the U.S. number one television show, film, and book simultaneously. These were the film Jurassic Park (with his screenplay based on his book of the same name), ER, and Disclosure. Crichton's medical fiction, science fiction, and thriller books sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide, and many were adapted into films and mini-series. Born John Michael Crichton on 1942 in Chicago, he was a physician, producer, non-fiction writer, and director, as well as fiction author and screenwriter. Although he always intended to become a writer, Crichton studied biological anthropology at Harvard University, graduating summa cum laude. He spent a fellowship year traveling and also served as a Visiting Lecturer at Cambridge University. When he entered Harvard Medical School, he began publishing his work using the pen names John Lange and Jeffrey Hudson. The bestselling Andromeda Strain was published when he was in his final year of medical school. After completing his M.D., he undertook a post-doctoral fellowship at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. He never got his license to practice medicine, but instead became a full-time writer—and later director and producer. Among his many honors were two Edgar awards and Medical Writer of the Year. Crichton died in 2008.