American television writer who served as story editor of The Original Series and wrote many of its defining episodes, especially those exploring Spock and Vulcan culture.
Dorothy Catherine Fontana (1939–2019), credited as D.C. Fontana, was an American television writer. She had worked as Gene Roddenberry's secretary on The Lieutenant and became story editor of Star Trek during its first two seasons, rewriting many scripts while contributing her own.
Her credits include Charlie X, Tomorrow Is Yesterday, This Side of Paradise, Journey to Babel, Friday's Child, The Ultimate Computer, By Any Other Name (with Jerome Bixby) and The Enterprise Incident. Journey to Babel introduced Spock's parents, Sarek and Amanda Grayson, and much of Vulcan culture as fans know it grew from her scripts.
Fontana was story editor and associate producer of The Animated Series, for which she wrote Yesteryear, a story of Spock's childhood. She co-wrote the Next Generation premiere, Encounter at Farpoint, with Roddenberry and was an associate producer during its first season, and she later co-wrote a Deep Space Nine episode. Her other television work included The Streets of San Francisco and Logan's Run. She died in 2019.