Michael Crichton, "father of the techno-thriller," was born on October 28, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois.
While Crichton studied English at Harvard, his writing was harshly criticized and his grades hovered at a C average. Disillusioned with the teaching standards, Crichton submitted an essay by George Orwell as his own work; the paper received a B.
Crichton changed his focus and graduated from Harvard in 1965 with a major in anthropology. During a one-year visit to Europe, Crichton became a visiting lecturer of anthropology at Cambridge University.
Crichton returned to the United States and put himself through medical school by writing novels under various psuedonyms. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1969.
After a short time (1969-1970) as a postdoctoral fellow at the Jonas Salk Institute for Biological Science, Crichton focused on a full-time writing career.
Novels:
The Andromeda Strain - 1969
The Terminal Man - 1972
The Great Train Robbery - 1975
Eaters of the Dead - 1976
Congo - 1980
Sphere - 1987
Jurassic Park - 1990
Rising Sun - 1992
Disclosure - 1993
The Lost World - 1995
Airframe - 1996
Timeline - 1999
Prey - 2002
State of Fear - 2004
As John Lange:
Odds On - 1966
Scratch On - 1967
Easy Go - 1968
The Venom Business - 1969
Zero Cool -1969
Grave Descend - 1970
Drug of Choice - 1970
Binary - 1972
As Jeffery Hudson:
A Case of Need - 1968
As Michael Douglas:
Dealing (or the "Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues") - 1971
Non-fiction:
Five Patients - 1970
Jasper Johns - 1977
Electronic Life - 1983
Trave - 1988
Jasper Johns (revised edition) - 1996
Movies:
The Andromeda Strain - 1971
The Carey Treatment (from "Case of Need") - 1972
Pursuit (from "Binary") - 1972 - Director
Dealing: Or The Berkeley to Boston Forty-Brick Lost Bag Blues - 1972
Westworld - 1973 - Writer/Director
Terminal Man - 1974
Coma - 1977 - Writer/Director
The Great Train Robbery - 1978 - Writer/Director
Looker - 1981 - Writer/Director
Runaway - 1984 - Writer/Director
Rising Sun - 1993 - Co-writer
Jurassic Park - 1993 - Co-writer
Disclosure - 1995 - Co-producer
Congo - 1995
Twister - 1996 - Co-writer/Co-producer
The Lost World - 1997
Sphere - 1997 - Co-producer
Thirteenth Warrior - 1999 - Co-producer (This is the film version of Eaters of the Dead)
Television:
ER - 1994 to present - Creator/Co-exececutive producer
Computer Games:
Amazon - 1982
TIMELINE - 2000
Awards:
Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe Award - 1968 ("A Case of Need") and 1980 ("The Great Train Robbery")
Association of American Medical Writers Award - 1970 ("Five Patients")
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Technical Achievement Award - 1995 ("for pioneering computerized motion picture budgeting and scheduling")
George Foster Peabody Award - 1995 ("ER")
Writer's Guild of America Award - Best Long Form Television Script of 1995 ("ER")
Emmy - Best Dramatic Series of 1996 ("ER")
Newly discovered ankylosaur named in his honor - 2000 ("Bienosaurus crichtoni")
Sources:
http://www.crichton-official.com/aboutmcmain.htm
http://us.imdb.com/Bio?Crichton,+Michael
http://spaa.simplenet.com/crichton/biography.shtml