Mary Tyler Moore Betty Ford Ed Weinberger Hay-Adams Hotel 1975

Edwin B. "Ed." Weinberger is an American screenwriter and

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon ...

Life and career

Born in 1938 and raised in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, the only son of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

butcher Leon and his wife Helen Weinberger, Ed. Weinberger began his TV career after he dropped out of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, writing for such stand-up comedians as

Dick Gregory Richard Claxton Gregory (October 12, 1932 – August 19, 2017) was an American comedian, civil rights leader, business owner and entrepreneur, and vegetarian activist. His writings were best sellers. Gregory became popular among the Afric ...

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...

, and

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

. His first job in television was writing for ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

''. He also wrote for ''The

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

Special'', ''

The Bill Cosby Show ''The Bill Cosby Show'' is an American sitcom television series, that aired for two seasons on NBC's Sunday night schedule from 1969 until 1971, under the sponsorship of Procter & Gamble. There were 52 episodes made in the series. It marked Bill ...

'', and ''The Dean Martin Variety Hour''. Weinberger, along with James L. Brooks, David Davis,

Allan Burns Allan Pennington Burns (May 18, 1935January 30, 2021) was an American screenwriter and television producer. He was best known for co-creating and writing for the television sitcoms ''The Munsters'' and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show''. Early life ...

, and

Stan Daniels Stanley Edwin Daniels (July 31, 1934 – April 6, 2007) was a Canadian-American screenwriter, producer and director, who won eight Emmy Awards for his work on ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' and ''Taxi''. Early life Born in Toronto to Jewish pa ...

, formed the core of

MTM Enterprises MTM Enterprises (also known as MTM Productions) was an American independent production company established in 1969 by Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband Grant Tinker to produce ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' for CBS. The name for the producti ...

. In 1977, they left for Paramount Pictures and started the John Charles Walters Company. Weinberger also played Mr. Walters in the logo. The series ''

Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

'' was created the following year. He also wrote and co-created ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...

'', which ran for eight years. Weinberger went on to create and executive produce several other sitcoms, including ''

Amen Amen ( he, אָמֵן, ; grc, ἀμήν, ; syc, ܐܡܝܢ, ; ar, آمين, ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and ...

'', '' Mr. President'', '' Dear John'', ''

Baby Talk Baby talk is a type of speech associated with an older person speaking to a child or infant. It is also called caretaker speech, infant-directed speech (IDS), child-directed speech (CDS), child-directed language (CDL), caregiver register, parent ...

'', and '' Sparks''. In 1985, he became president of television production company

Carson Productions Carson Entertainment Group (formerly Carson Productions and Carson Productions Group) is a television production company established by Johnny Carson in 1980. The company primarily produced ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' from 1980 to ...

, replacing John J. McMahon. Weinberger has won a Peabody Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and nine Emmy Awards. He has also received 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 ...

Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been married to TV actress Carlene Watkins since 1984. With his son, Jack, Weinberger wrote and produced the musical play ''Mary and Joseph'', which had a national tour in 2007–08. Weinberger explained in 2000 that he began using the abbreviation "Ed." when he was eight years old, admitting that "it's an affectation that's gotten out of hand." In 2012, he sued two former business managers, claiming they had failed to obtain revenue for him from his work on ''Amen''. His case was dismissed in 2013 by the

Los Angeles Superior Court The Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Los Angeles County, which includes the city of Los Angeles. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The ...

, but that decision was overturned in 2015 by the appellate court.

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weinberger, Ed. 1945 births American male screenwriters American television writers Columbia University alumni Jewish American writers Living people American male television writers Primetime Emmy Award winners Screenwriters from Pennsylvania Showrunners Television producers from Pennsylvania Writers from Philadelphia 21st-century American Jews Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni