# Shimon Wincelberg

Shimon Wincelberg (26 September 1924 – 29 September 2004) was a television writer and Broadway playwright. He wrote the 1959 Broadway play Kataki starring Sessue Hayakawa and Ben Piazza.

## Early life

Wincelberg was born in Kiel, Germany. His family fled Nazi Germany, arriving in the United States in the late 1930s.

## Career

Wincelberg began his career as a writer in 1953 when he sold his first short story. He continued to write stories for a variety of publications including Harper's Bazaar, The New Yorker, and Punch. He wrote many plays, including the Broadway play Kataki, which was based on his own experience in Army intelligence during World War II. He wrote another play in 1962 called Windows of Heaven which premiered at Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theater. He also wrote books, some with his wife Anita, who was also a writer. He also wrote many television shows during the 1960s and 1970s, often using pseudonyms such as "Simon Wincelberg", "Simon Winvelberg", "S. Bar-David", and "Shimon Bar-David", meaning "Shimon son of David" in Hebrew. He invented the Vulcan Mindmeld in the script for "Dagger of the Mind", which aired during the first season of Star Trek.

## Jewish identity

Wincelberg was a mentor for Orthodox Jews working in Hollywood. His scripts often included Jewish themes, and depicted Jewish rituals and Jewish religious law with accuracy.

## Filmography

He wrote or co-wrote over 100 scripts for episodes of the following television series:

### Films

| Year | Film | Credit | Notes |
| 1953 | Fighter Attack | Written By | |
| 1956 | On the Threshold of Space | Written By | Co-Wrote screenplay with "Francis Cockrell" |
| 1961 | Der Feind | Written By | Television Movie |
| 1967 | Kataki: Der Feind | Story By | Based on the play |
| 1970 | Cold Sweat | Screenplay By | Based on the novel "Ride the Nightmare" by "Richard Matheson" |
| 1980 | Farewell to the Planet of the Apes | Written By | Television Movie |
| 1996 | Pepolino und der Schatz der Meerjungfrau | Screenplay By | Based on the book By "Irene Rodrian", Co-Wrote screenplay with "József Nepp" and "Irene Rodrian" |

### Television

| Year | TV Series | Credit | Notes |
| 1953 | Fireside Theatre | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1954 | Medallion Theatre | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1958 | Kraft Television Theatre | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1958-63 | Have Gun - Will Travel | Writer, Actor | 24 Episodes |
| 1959 | The Rebel | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1960 | Johnny Staccato | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1960 | Shirley Temple's Storybook | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1961 | The Tall Man | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1961 | Target: The Corruptors! | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1961-63 | Naked City | Writer | 6 Episodes |
| 1962 | Frontier Circus | Writer | 2 Episodes |
| 1962 | General Electric Theater | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1962 | The Law and Mr. Jones | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1962 | 87th Precinct | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1962-63 | The Lloyd Bridges Show | Writer | 2 Episodes |
| 1963 | Rawhide | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1963 | Route 66 | Writer | 2 Episodes |
| 1963 | Sam Benedict | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1963-64 | The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters | Writer | 4 Episodes |
| 1964 | Breaking Point | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1964 | Channing | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1964-74 | Gunsmoke | Writer | 4 Episodes |
| 1965 | Lost in Space | Writer | 7 Episodes |
| 1965 | Voyage to the Bottom Of the Sea | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1966 | Combat! | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1966 | T.H.E. Cat | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1966 | The Time Tunnel | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1966-67 | Star Trek | Writer | 2 Episodes, as well as a script for the aborted 1977 Star Trek: Phase II series |
| 1966-67 | The Wild Wild West | Writer | 2 Episodes |
| 1967 | Custer | Writer | 4 Episodes |
| 1968 | Garrison's Gorillas | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1969 | The Name of the Game | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1969-70 | Medical Center | Writer | 5 Episodes |
| 1969-75 | Mannix | Writer | 6 Episodes |
| 1970 | The Immortal | Writer | 2 Episodes |
| 1971 | The Most Deadly Game | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1971 | Nichols | Writer | 3 Episodes |
| 1972 | Longstreet | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1972 | Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1972-73 | Hec Ramsey | Writer | 2 Episodes |
| 1973 | The Magician | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1973 | The Starlost | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1974 | Devlin | Writer | |
| 1974 | The New Perry Mason | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1974 | Planet of the Apes | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1975 | Bronk | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1975-76 | Police Woman | Writer | 5 Episodes |
| 1977 | Logan's Run | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1977 | Serpico | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1978 | Man from Atlantis | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1979 | Supertrain | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1979 | The Paper Chase | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1979 | Trapper John, M.D. | Writer | 2 Episodes |
| 1980 | Hagen | Writer | |
| 1982 | Dynasty | Writer | 3 Episodes |
| 1987 | Mariah | Writer | 1 Episode |
| 1997 | Law & Order | Writer | 1 Episode |

## Death

Wincelberg died on 19 September 2004 of an undisclosed illness in a nursing home in Los Angeles at the age of 80.