Jeff Vlaming Dead: ‘X-Files’, ‘Hannibal’ Writer Was 63

Jeff Vlaming, a writer and producer whose many credits stretch from Northern Exposure through such popular sci-fi series as The X-Files, Xena: Warrior Princess, Numb3rs, Fringe and Hannibal, has died following a battle with cancer. He was 63.

Vlaming died January 30 at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, CA.

“Jeff Vlaming was one of the beautiful demented minds in the Hannibal writers room, often illustrating many of the cannibal psychiatrist’s lurid kills,” said Hannibal producer Bryan Fuller in a statement to Deadline. “His vivid imagination and artistic skill were matched only by his kindness and warm camaraderie. He will be greatly missed.”

Vlaming studied acting at the University of Minnesota under William H. Macy, then worked in Minneapolis as an advertising art director. He relocated to Los Angeles to launch a prolific writing career.

With his first credits in the early 1990s — Lucky Luke, Northern Exposure, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., among others — Vlaming established his sci-fi bona fides with his mid-’90s work on Weird Science and, beginning in its third season in 1995, Fox’s The X-Files.

After X-Files, Vlaming wrote for Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, the TV adaptation of Honey I Shrunk The Kids, Xena: Warrior Princess, Sheena, NCIS, Numb3rs, Battlestar Galactica, Fringe, Teen Wolf, Hannibal, Outcast, The 100 and, most recently, Debris in 2021.

Vlaming’s producing and/or exec producing credits include NCIS, Keen Eddie, Fringe, Teen Wolf, The 100 and Debris among others.

In 2022, Vlaming wrote and illustrated the graphic novel 12 o-Clock Somewhere. He also posted frequently on his popular Twitter page, sharing many of his drawings and illustrations.