Paul Huson
Encyclopedia
Paul Huson is a British
-born author and artist currently living in the United States
. In addition to writing several books about occultism and witchcraft
he has worked extensively in the film and television industries.
.
Huson currently lives in Los Angeles. His partner and frequent collaborator is William Bast
.
's film of Richard III
playing the part of Edward, Prince of Wales, one of the two Princes in the Tower
.
Huson attended Leighton Park School
from 1956 through 1959, then entered the Slade School of Fine Art
at the University of London
as a Diploma student from 1959 through 1963, with a principal in painting under Andrew Forge
and a subsidiary in theatrical design under Nicholas Georgiadis
and Peter Snow (artist)
. In 1963 he was awarded an Associated Rediffusion Scholarship to study film under Thorold Dickinson
for a further post graduate year.
From 1965 through 1968 Huson worked as an Art Director for BBC television
and Columbia Pictures
, UK, before emigrating to the United States, where he began writing books and stories and scripts for American television, which included the television series Family and James at Fifteen. Between 1982 and 1987 he and his partner William Bast
wrote and produced three television series Tucker's Witch, The Hamptons, and The Colbys, a spin-off from the Aaron Spelling
series Dynasty
; The Colbys won the 1986 People's Choice Award. In 1989 he and Bast wrote a two-part series Twist of Fate, followed in 1991 by The Big One: the Great Los Angeles Earthquake another two-parter, which was instrumental in putting Los Angeles on alert to their, up until then, inadequate earthquake response arrangements. In 1995 Huson and Bast wrote the teleplay for Danielle Steel
's popular novel Secrets. In 1995 they wrote Deadly Invasion; a paranormal thriller The Fury Within; and Power and Beauty, a controversial biographical teleplay about socialite Judith Exner
and her relationship with President John F. Kennedy
.
's Society of the Inner Light. In 1964 he worked as Karlis Osis' research assistant at the American Society of Psychical Research in New York. In 1965 he studied the history and practices of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
and the Stella Matutina
under the aegis of Israel Regardie
.
Huson subsequently wrote a number of popular books on occult and allied subjects: the influential Mastering Witchcraft
(1970); a study of tarot
symbolism The Devil's Picturebook (1971);Mastering Herbalism (1974); an introduction to parapsychology How to Test and Develop your ESP (19750); two novels, The Keepsake (1981), and The Offering (1984), and a second work on tarot symbolism and the history of tarot reading, Mystical Origins of the Tarot (2004). He generally illustrates his non-fiction books himself, and designed a deck of tarot cards based upon his research, Dame Fortune's Wheel Tarot (2009).
, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-born author and artist currently living in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In addition to writing several books about occultism and witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
he has worked extensively in the film and television industries.
Family
Huson was born on September 19, 1942 in London, England, the son of the author Edward Richard Carl Huson and painter and motion picture costume designer Olga LehmannOlga Lehmann
Olga Lehmann was a visual artist.Born in Catemu, Chile, to Mary Grisel Lehmann and mining engineer Andrew William Lehmann, Olga Lehmann had one sister, Monica , and one brother, George...
.
Huson currently lives in Los Angeles. His partner and frequent collaborator is William Bast
William Bast
William Bast is an American screenwriter and author currently living in Los Angeles. In addition to writing scripts for motion pictures and television, he is the author of two biographies of the screen actor James Dean.-Early life:...
.
Work in Film and Television
After a walk-on role in Rene Clement's film starring Gerard Phillipe Monsieur Ripois, Huson acted in Laurence OlivierLaurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
's film of Richard III
Richard III (1955 film)
Richard III is a 1955 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's historical play of the same name, also incorporating elements from his Henry VI, Part 3. It was directed and produced by Sir Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. The cast includes many noted Shakespearean actors,...
playing the part of Edward, Prince of Wales, one of the two Princes in the Tower
Princes in the Tower
The Princes in the Tower is a term which refers to Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York. The two brothers were the only sons of Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville alive at the time of their father's death...
.
Huson attended Leighton Park School
Leighton Park School
Leighton Park School is a co-educational Quaker independent school for both day and boarding pupils. It is situated in the large town of Reading in Berkshire, in South East England...
from 1956 through 1959, then entered the Slade School of Fine Art
Slade School of Fine Art
The Slade School of Fine Art is a world-renownedart school in London, United Kingdom, and a department of University College London...
at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
as a Diploma student from 1959 through 1963, with a principal in painting under Andrew Forge
Andrew Forge
Andrew Murray Forge was a British painter, academic, and art critic....
and a subsidiary in theatrical design under Nicholas Georgiadis
Nicholas Georgiadis
Nicholas Georgiadis CBE was a painter, stage and costume designer, renowned for his work in ballet, particularly in collaboration with Kenneth MacMillan.- Early life :...
and Peter Snow (artist)
Peter Snow (artist)
Peter Frederick Briscoe Snow was an English painter, theatre designer and teacher. From the 1960s to the 1990s he was head of post graduate theatre design at the Slade School of Fine Art, with the help of Nicholas Georgiadis and later, Yolanda Sonnabend.-Life and work:Peter Snow, son of Sir...
. In 1963 he was awarded an Associated Rediffusion Scholarship to study film under Thorold Dickinson
Thorold Dickinson
Thorold Barron Dickinson was a British film director, screenwriter, producer, and Britains's first university Professor of Film.-Early life and career:...
for a further post graduate year.
From 1965 through 1968 Huson worked as an Art Director for BBC television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
and Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, UK, before emigrating to the United States, where he began writing books and stories and scripts for American television, which included the television series Family and James at Fifteen. Between 1982 and 1987 he and his partner William Bast
William Bast
William Bast is an American screenwriter and author currently living in Los Angeles. In addition to writing scripts for motion pictures and television, he is the author of two biographies of the screen actor James Dean.-Early life:...
wrote and produced three television series Tucker's Witch, The Hamptons, and The Colbys, a spin-off from the Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling was an American film and television producer. As of 2009, Spelling's eponymous production company Spelling Television holds the record as the most prolific television writer, with 218 producer and executive producer credits...
series Dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
; The Colbys won the 1986 People's Choice Award. In 1989 he and Bast wrote a two-part series Twist of Fate, followed in 1991 by The Big One: the Great Los Angeles Earthquake another two-parter, which was instrumental in putting Los Angeles on alert to their, up until then, inadequate earthquake response arrangements. In 1995 Huson and Bast wrote the teleplay for Danielle Steel
Danielle Steel
Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel , better known as Danielle Steel, is an American romantic novelist and author of mainstream dramas....
's popular novel Secrets. In 1995 they wrote Deadly Invasion; a paranormal thriller The Fury Within; and Power and Beauty, a controversial biographical teleplay about socialite Judith Exner
Judith Exner
Judith Exner was an American woman who claimed to be the mistress of U.S. president John F. Kennedy and Mafia leaders Sam Giancana and John Roselli. She was also known as Judith Campbell Exner.-Early life:...
and her relationship with President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
.
Esoteric Studies
While still a student at the Slade Huson studied the Qabalah and the Western Esoteric Tradition with Dion FortuneDion Fortune
Violet Mary Firth Evans , better known as Dion Fortune, was a British occultist and author. Her pseudonym was inspired by her family motto "Deo, non fortuna" , originally the ancient motto of the Barons & Earls Digby.-Early life:She was born in Bryn-y-Bia in Llandudno, Wales, and grew up in a...
's Society of the Inner Light. In 1964 he worked as Karlis Osis' research assistant at the American Society of Psychical Research in New York. In 1965 he studied the history and practices of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was a magical order active in Great Britain during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which practiced theurgy and spiritual development...
and the Stella Matutina
Stella Matutina
The Stella Matutina was an initiatory magical order dedicated to the dissemination of the traditional teachings of the earlier Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Originally, the outer order of the Stella Matutina was known as Mystic Rose or Order of the M.R. in the Outer...
under the aegis of Israel Regardie
Israel Regardie
Israel Regardie, born Francis Israel Regudy was an occultist and writer, author of books on the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.-Early life:...
.
Huson subsequently wrote a number of popular books on occult and allied subjects: the influential Mastering Witchcraft
Mastering Witchcraft
Mastering Witchcraft: A Practical Guide for Witches, Warlocks and Covens is a book written by Paul Huson and published in 1970 by G.P. Putnams- the first mainstream publisher to produce a do-it-yourself manual for the would-be witch or warlock....
(1970); a study of tarot
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
symbolism The Devil's Picturebook (1971);Mastering Herbalism (1974); an introduction to parapsychology How to Test and Develop your ESP (19750); two novels, The Keepsake (1981), and The Offering (1984), and a second work on tarot symbolism and the history of tarot reading, Mystical Origins of the Tarot (2004). He generally illustrates his non-fiction books himself, and designed a deck of tarot cards based upon his research, Dame Fortune's Wheel Tarot (2009).
Memberships
He is a member of the Authors Guild of America, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Writers Guild of America, westWriters Guild of America, west
Writers Guild of America, West is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. The Guild was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, which include the Screen Writers Guild...
, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
.
Further References to Paul Huson
- Clifton, Chas, Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America, Lanham, MD: Rowman Altamira, 2006, ISBN 0759102023.
- Contemporary Authors (Biography), Thomson Gale, 2004.
- Farrar, Stewart, Eight Sabbats for Witches, WA: Phoenix Publishing, 1988, ISBN 0919345263.
- Freedland, Nat, The Occult Explosion, New York: G.P.Putnams Sons, 1972, ISBN 0399109544.
- Gunther, Max, Wall Street and Witchcraft, New York: B. Geis Associates, 1971.
- Insdorf, Annette, Indelible Shadows: Film and the Holocaust, Cambridge University Press, 2003.
- Luhrmann, T.M., Persuasions of the Witch's Craft, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989, ISBN 0-674-66323-3.
- Nichols, Sallie, Jung and Tarot, Weiser, 1980.
- Pollack, Rachel, The Forest of Souls, Llewellyn, 2001.
- Pollack, Rachel, Tarot Wisdom, Llewellyn, 2008.
- Rabinovitch and Lewis, The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neopaganism, Citadel Press, 2004.
- Sharman-Burke, J., Mastering the Tarot, St. Martin's Griffen, 2001.
- Skelton, Robin, The Practice of Witchcraft Today, Citadel, 1995.
- Terrace, Vincent, The Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials: 1774-1985, New York: Zoetrope, 1985.
- Valiente, Doreen, The Rebirth of Witchcraft, London: Robert Hale, 1989, ISBN 0-7090-3715-5.
- Who's Who in Entertainment, Illinois: Marquis Who's Who, Macmillan, 1988.
- The Witches' Almanac, pp. 82–86, The Witches' Almanac Ltd., Providence R.I., 2009.
External links
- Paul Huson's web site, containing excerpts from some of his books.
- Credits for Paul Huson at tv.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...
- Paul Huson: Google Book Search
- Interview with Paul Huson