A life-sized statue of The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling is set to be erected in Binghamton, New York, the upstate city where Serling spent much of his childhood. The hope is to unveil the statue in time for Serling’s 100th birthday, which will be on December 25, 2024. The writer/producer, who also developed The Planet of the Apes, Seven Days in May, and Requiem for a Heavyweight, was also an activist who clashed with Hollywood over issues like racism, censorship, and war. The statue is being erected by The Rod Serling Memorial Foundation, who are raising funds on Kickstarter.
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The Foundation previously tried to crowdfund a statue, but ultimately the campaign failed. In the time since, New York State Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo helped the Foundation get their hands on a $50,000 grant, which covers more than half of the cost of creating, transporting, and installing the statue.
Besides erecting the statue, the campaign allows supporters to get t-shirts, commemorative calendars that feature dozens of rare photos featuring Serling and his family, and other perks. Those who want to drop upwards of $200 can even get inscribed bricks that will be around the statue when it is erected in Recreation Park in Binghamton.
Serling is a hero in upstate New York, with festivals and other celebrations of his legacy in Binghamton, as well as Auburn, New York, where members of the Serling family still live.
Serling’s The Twilight Zone aired on CBS beginning in 1959, and changed the face of American television. The iconic imagery of Serling standing in front of a floating door has been homaged and parodied hundreds of times, and the door imagery will be incorporated into the statue, as well, featuring the name and inscription “As Timeless as Infinity.”
Serling passed away on May 3, 1975 at just 50 years old. A memorial plaque already stands in Binghamton, reading, “In honor of Rod Serling, class of 1943, creator of The Twilight Zone, award-winning dramatist, playwright, and lecturer, 1924-1975.”
