Gilbert Alexander Ralston (January 5, 1912 – March 18, 1999) was a British-American screenwriter,[1] journalist and author.
He wrote the screenplay for the 1971 movie Willard,[2] which was based on the 1968 novel Ratman's Notebooks written by Stephen Gilbert.
He died on March 18, 1999, in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, of congestive heart failure.
"[3] Ralston said he then created the Civil War characters, the format, the story outline and nine drafts of the script that was the basis for the television series.
Ralston's experience brought to light a common Hollywood practice of the 1950s and 1960s, where television writers who helped create popular series allowed producers or studios to take credit for said series, thus depriving the writers of any royalties.