Allan Katz (born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

) is an American writer, producer, actor, and director. He began his writing career as an advertising copywriter. In 1970 he created the original award-winning campaign for the popcorn snack Screaming Yellow Zonkers which was the first major product to be packaged in a predominantly black box. Every panel of the box was covered by absurd copy and illustrations. Katz wrote the copy on the first several boxes, and wrote and produced the TV and radio campaign. Katz was hired to be one of the youngest writers on ''

Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Da ...

'' and moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. While working on ''Laugh-In'', he also wrote episodes of '' Sanford and Son'', ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series ''Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...

'', and ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Mo ...

''. He went on to both write and produce other series including ''

M*A*S*H (TV series) ''M*A*S*H'' (an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American war comedy-drama television series that aired on CBS from September 17, 1972 to February 28, 1983. It was developed by Larry Gelbart as the first original spin-off seri ...

'', The Cher Show, '' Rhoda'', and '' Roseanne''. In 1989 Katz wrote and starred in the film ''

Big Man on Campus ''Big Man on Campus'' (also known as ''The Hunchback of UCLA'' and ''The Hunchback Hairball of L.A.'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1989 comedy film directed by Jeremy Kagan, and written by and starring Allan Katz. It is loosely based on ''The Hunch ...

'' (Originally titled, ''The Hunchback of UCLA'', released in the UK as ''The Hunchback Hairball of L.A.''). Katz wrote the libretto for the musical ''Zapata'' (music by

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ov ...

) the multiple award-winning Off-Broadway musical, ''Song of Singapore'', and the comedy, ''Partners'' starring

Alan Rosenberg Alan Rosenberg (born October 4, 1950) is an American actor. Rosenberg is perhaps best known for his character Eli Levinson which appeared in both the series '' Civil Wars'' and the popular '' L.A. Law''. From 2005 to 2009, he was president of the ...

. Katz is also an essayist who has been published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' and the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' and has taught writing at UCLA Extension Writers' Program and at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, where recently, in conjunction with their film studies program, he completed directing his feature "Bucky and the Squirrels" which had a limited theatrical release in February 2018. Married November 30, 1985 (Ancestry.com) to Catherine B Bergstrom (actress) who played Peg Hunnicutt in ''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Allan Television producers from Illinois American television writers American male television writers Living people Male actors from Chicago Screenwriters from Illinois 1941 births