Ronald Shusett was born to David and Fanny Shusett in June 1935. His younger brother Gary (1941 - 2013) founded the Sherwood Oaks Film School. When Ronald was three the family moved from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles where he grew up. He attended UCLA for two years and in the mid-1960s began producing stage plays. Over the next few years he wrote several stories for publication, including the ideas for screenplays and in 1974 he met Dan O' Bannon, with whom he would write 'Alien' and 'Total Recall', subsequently contributing to other films largely in the horror genre.