David Debin is an American

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

and former producer. His father was a New York talent agent who discovered Michael Bennett and other well-known

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

personalities.

Career

Musicals

After graduating from

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher ed ...

, Debin began his own career as an Equity Stage Manager for touring musical comedies such as ''Camelot,'' with

Howard Keel Harold Clifford Keel (April 13, 1919November 7, 2004), known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer, known for his rich bass-baritone singing voice. He starred in a number of MGM musicals in the 1950s and in the CBS te ...

and

Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. He came to prominence in the late 1960s with his Academy Award–nominated performance as Joe Buck, a would-be gigolo, in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969). During the 1970s, h ...

; ''Top Banana,'' with Milton Berle; ''Guys and Dolls,'' with

Dan Dailey Daniel James Dailey Jr. (December 14, 1915 – October 16, 1978) was an American dancer and actor. He is best remembered for a series of popular musicals he made at 20th Century Fox such as '' Mother Wore Tights'' (1947). Biography Early life D ...

; ''Tovarich,'' with

Eva Gabor Eva Gabor ( ; February 11, 1919 – July 4, 1995) was a Hungarian-American actress, businesswoman, singer, and socialite. She voiced Duchess and Miss Bianca in the animated Disney Classics, '' The Aristocats'' (1970), '' The Rescuers'' (1977), ...

and

Jean Pierre Aumont Jean-Pierre Aumont (born Jean-Pierre Philippe Salomons; 5 January 1911 – 30 January 2001) was a French actor, and holder of the Légion d'Honneur and the Croix de Guerre for his World War II military service. Early life Aumont was born Jea ...

; ''Kiss Me Kate,'' with Patrice Munsell; and ''How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying'', with

Rudy Vallee Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch poli ...

. Later, he teamed with

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

and Grammy-winning composer,

Paul Jabara Paul Jabara, also known as Paul Frederick Jabara, (January 31, 1948 – September 29, 1992) was an American actor, singer, and songwriter of Lebanese ancestry, born in Brooklyn, New York. He wrote Donna Summer's Oscar-winning " Last Dance" from ...

and ''Dreamgirls'' lyricist

Tom Eyen Tom Eyen (August 14, 1940 – May 26, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist, television writer and director. He received a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for ''Dreamgirls'' in 1981. Eyen is best known for works at opposite e ...

, to write lyrics for the musical ''Rachel Lilly Rosenblum and Don't You Forget It,'' produced on Broadway by Ahmet Ertegun and

Robert Stigwood Robert Colin Stigwood (16 April 1934 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer and impresario, best known for managing Cream (band), Cream, Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions ...

Hollywood

His career in Hollywood began as a writer/producer for ''The Dating Game'' and ''The Newlywed Game''. He sold his first screenplay, ''Dick Tracy'', to Universal, and his second, '' Goldie and the Boxer'', to

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. Under the banner of the company he formed with wife Stockard Channing, he went on to produce ''The Stockard Channing Show'' for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

; ''Starmaker'', a miniseries starring

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Golde ...

and

Melanie Griffith Melanie Richards Griffith (born August 9, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career in the 1970s, appearing in several independent thriller films before achieving mainstream success in the mid-1980s. Born in Manhattan, New York City, ...

for NBC; ''A Gun in the House'' with

Sally Struthers Sally Anne Struthers (born July 28, 1947) is an American actress and activist. She played Gloria Stivic, the daughter of Archie and Edith Bunker (played by Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton) on ''All in the Family'', for which she won two Emm ...

and ''Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neil Story'' with Channing, both movies for CBS. Later, he served as writer-producer of the sitcom ''Everything's Relative'', starring Jason Alexander, for Columbia and CBS; and writer/producer of ''The Heat'', starring Billy Campbell, for

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

and CBS. He also wrote episodes for TV shows such as ''Hearts of the West'', and ''Sweating Bullets''. At various times, he was a feature screenwriter under contract to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

and

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. In 2012, he co-wrote and co-produced a comedy pilot for Mexican TV, ''The Mexico City Angels'', about a Mexican professional soccer team.

Writing

In 1992,

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

published his first novel, the Albie Marx mystery, ''Nice Guys Finish Dead''. Two subsequent Albie Marx novels, ''The Big O'' and ''Murder Live At Five'', were published by Carroll & Graf. Writing under the pseudonym "Smith and Doe" with co-author Philip Mittleman, he published three books of nonfiction with

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

, among them the bestseller ''What Men Don't Want Women To Know''. He is a member of the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Gu ...

, the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Awa ...

and the Author's Guild.

Third Age foundation

With his associate, Peter Brill, M.D., he co-founded the Third Age Foundation. The Third Age is defined as that period of life, which begins anywhere from ages 50 to 65, where people typically search for deeper meaning and fulfillment. The foundation has conducted seminars along with workshops and support groups teaching the principles of living creatively in the Third Age. The program is called "Unfinished Business", and highlights seven steps that lead to passion, purpose and joy. A book entitled ''Finding Your J Spot: JOY in Midlife and Beyond'' was published by Third Age Books in 2005. He taught

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

courses at

Antioch University Antioch University is a private university with multiple campuses in the United States and online programs. Founded in 1852 as Antioch College, its first president was politician, abolitionist, and education reformer Horace Mann. It changed its ...

Santa Barbara and

Santa Barbara City College Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is a public community college in Santa Barbara, California. It opened in 1909 and is located on a campus. History Santa Barbara City College was established by the Santa Barbara High School District in 1909, ma ...

Selected works

Fiction

* ''Nice Guys Finish Dead'' *''The Big O'' *''Murder Live At Five''

References

External links

Personal website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Debin, David American television writers American mystery writers American lyricists American male screenwriters Adelphi University alumni Living people American male novelists American male television writers Year of birth missing (living people)