'Rocketeer,' 'The Flash' Screenwriter was 64 -

Paul De Meo, best known for his work as a screenwriter on Disney’s The Rocketeer and the 1990s TV show The Flash, died unexpectedly last week. He was 64.

De Meo’s death was announced via Twitter, with his longtime creative partner Danny Bilson writing on Feb. 26, “R.I.P. Paul DeMeo. Brother, dear friend, and creative partner in all things. We miss you already.” (In a later tweet, Bilson added, “We worked up until the end which came suddenly. 41 years as creative partners… sigh…”)

Bilson and De Meo’s careers launched with 1985’s cult hit Trancers, which led to a number of additional credits over the next few years, including Eliminators, Pulse Pounders and Kung Fu: The Next Generation, the last a pilot for a potential sequel to the 1970s TV show Kung Fu. It wasn’t until the early 1990s when things started picking up for them, with the two creating The Flash TV show starring John Wesley Shipp and writing the screenplay for the 1991 movie The Rocketeer, based on Dave Stevens’ comic book series.

The duo stayed inside the superhero genre for subsequent projects, including the TV shows Viper and The Sentinel, as well as runs on the comic book version of The Flash (The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive ran for 13 issues in 2006) and their own comic book property, Red Menace. Other projects included writing for video games, including James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent and the Company of Heroes series.

In recent years, De Meo had worked as a screenwriting professor at USC School of Cinematic Arts. He is survived by his wife, Lauren Glassman, and daughters Miranda and Annabella.

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