Calvin J. Clements Sr.; Writer of Westerns for Film, TV

Calvin J. Clements Sr., 82, screenwriter for television and film known for his westerns. Clements, a native of New Jersey, joined the Navy when he was 16 and spent many years in the Philippines and pre-communist China. He next became a fireboat pilot with the New York City Fire Department, and began writing novels and fiction stories for such magazines as Collier’s and the Saturday Evening Post. Clements moved into television in 1959, gaining credits on such programs as “Desilu Playhouse,” “Alcoa Hour,” “Alfred Hitchcock” and “Dr. Kildare.” But he quickly became identified with popular western series of that period, prolifically writing scripts for “Have Gun, Will Travel,” “How the West Was Won” and “Gunsmoke.” Among his films was the classic western “Firecreek” starring James Stewart and Henry Fonda. Clements earned a Western Writers of America award and was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame. His original scripts are in the archives of the University of Arizona. On March 11 in Tarzana of cancer.