Eugene “Gene” Lee Coon was an American Screenwriter, television producer, and novelist. He is best known for his work on the original as a screenwriter, story editor, and showrunner. Gene was born in Nebraska in January of 1924. The Coon family moved to California when he was a teenager. During World War II, Gene served stateside in the Marine Corps from 1942-1946. He remained a reservist afterword, while he studied radio communications at Glendale Junior College, and additional studies at University of Iowa before returning to active duty in 1950 during the Korean War. He was demobilized in 1952. Coon wrote about his military experience in his novels and . Gene died of lung and throat cancer at 49 in July of 1973.

Gene began his television career in 1956. He was first involved with scripting popular western and action shows. Notable titles he worked on include , , and . In the early 1960s, while working at Universal, he turned from a one-hour drama to a 30-minute sitcom. Coon then joined the project partway through it’s first season. Coon’s scripts, containing strong moral values about personal redemption and opposing war, provided a basis for his scripts. David Gerrold credited him with being a skilled showrunner before Coon left in the middle of the second season. The reason for the split was reported as arguments between Gene and Gene Roddenberry. Coon would later contribute to four more scripts in the third season under the pseudonym Lee Cronin.