Henry Kuttner
Henry Kuttner was an influential American science fiction and fantasy writer born on April 7, 1915, in Los Angeles, California. His literary career began in the 1930s, inspired by writers such as L. Frank Baum, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and H. P. Lovecraft. Kuttner is best known for his collaborations with his wife, C. L. Moore, under various pseudonyms, most notably "Lewis Padgett." This partnership produced a significant body of work, characterized by a blend of humor and deeper emotional undertones, particularly in Kuttner's short story "Mimsy Were the Borogroves," which is celebrated as a classic in science fiction literature.
During World War II, Kuttner and Moore were called upon to contribute to the magazine Astounding Science Fiction, a reflection of Kuttner's growing reputation despite his earlier struggles in the genre. After serving briefly in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, he utilized the G.I. Bill to further his education, earning a B.A. from the University of Southern California. Kuttner's writing style is often analyzed for its distinct qualities, with a notable infusion of humor and irony, and he has left a lasting impact on future generations of writers, including Ray Bradbury. He passed away in 1958 while pursuing his master's degree, leaving behind a rich legacy in speculative fiction.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Henry Kuttner
Fiction Writer
- Born: April 7, 1915
- Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
- Died: February 4, 1958
Biography
Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California, on April 7, 1915 (some sources have 1914) to Henry Kuttner, a rare book dealer, and Anne Lewis Kuttner. His father died when he was five, and Kuttner spent his youth between Los Angeles and San Francisco. He initially worked after high school at an L.A. literary agency.
Like other science fiction and fantasy writers of his generation, he loved the works of L. Frank Baum and Edgar Rice Burroughs. In 1926, Kuttner became a fan of Hugo Gernsback’s Amazing Stories; he was also a fan of Weird Tales and H. P. Lovecraft. Kuttner’s first story, “Graveyard Rats” (1936), owes much to Lovecraft’s influence, as does much of Kuttner’s early horror work, just as his fantasy adventures about the hero Elak are indebted to the works about Conan by Robert E. Howard.
Kuttner, also like many of his contemporaries, liked to correspond with writers he admired, and his letters to science fiction and fantasy writer C. (Catherine) L. (Lucille) Moore led to an initial story collaboration (“Quest of the Star Stone,” 1938) and to much more a few years later. Kuttner felt his science-fiction stories suffered from his lack of a scientific background. He moved to New York to be closer to the publishers of his work, and on June 7, 1940, he and C. L. Moore were married there. They soon moved back to California.
Throughout the rest of his career, almost all his works can be called a collaboration of sorts between Kuttner and Moore, each of whom could take up the other’s writing in mid-sentence. When World War II began, John W. Campbell, the editor of Astounding Science Fiction, realized that he would find stories in short supply, as many of his stable of favorite authors—Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, L. Sprague De Camp—had become involved in the war effort. Campbell turned to Kuttner and Moore, but because of Kuttner’s weak reputation as a science-fiction writer, he asked them to use a pen name: they came up with “Lewis Padgett.” Throughout his career, Kuttner used a variety of pseudonyms, among them Kelvin Kent and Lawrence O’Donnell, but Padgett was the one under which his best fiction appeared.
Kuttner’s own war service consisted of a brief stint with the U.S. Army Medical Corps. His veteran’s status allowed him to attend the University of Southern California under the G.I. Bill in 1950. He earned his B.A. in 1954, and was working on his master’s degree at the time of his death in 1958.
Critics have tended to cleave the Kuttner/Moore collaboration into a plot/style division, with Moore supplying the style, but Kuttner undoubtedly brought a refreshing dash of humor into their tales, most notably those about the obstreperous robot Joe and his exasperated inventor, Galloway Gallegher. But Kuttner’s touch goes deeper, evidenced in the ironic, wry sadness that permeates his classic “Mimsy Were the Borogroves” (1943), which was selected as one of the greatest science-fiction stories of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America. His influence extended to later writers such as Ray Bradbury as well.