Gail Parent (born August 12, 1940) is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author.

Life and career

Parent was born Gail Kostner in New York City, New York, the daughter of Ruth (née Goldberg) and Theodore Kostner, a Wall Street executive. Parent is Jewish. Parent's writing career began in the 1960s where she teamed up with writer Kenny Solms. Her big break came when she began writing for ''

The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Har ...

''. She later went on to write for other TV shows including a 1971 episode of ''

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 ...

''. The following year her novel ''Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York'', which chronicled its unattractive, overweight,

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 ...

heroine A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero ...

's romantic misadventures in Manhattan, became a best-seller that later served as the basis of a film starring

Jeannie Berlin Jeannie Berlin (born Jeannie Brette May; November 1, 1949) is an American film, television and stage actress and screenwriter, the daughter of Elaine May. She is best-known for her role in the 1972 comedy film '' The Heartbreak Kid'', for which sh ...

. Although the screenplay was adapted by someone else, she penned the scripts for

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

's '' The Main Event'' (1979) and ''

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen ''Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen'' is a 2004 American teen musical comedy film directed by Sara Sugarman from a screenplay by Gail Parent, based on Dyan Sheldon's 1999 novel of the same name. It stars Lindsay Lohan as an aspiring tee ...

'' (2004). Parent co-wrote the book for the 1974 musical ''

Lorelei The Lorelei ( ; ), spelled Loreley in German, is a , steep slate rock on the right bank of the River Rhine in the Rhine Gorge (or Middle Rhine) at Sankt Goarshausen in Germany, part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site. Th ...

''. It is her sole

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 ...

credit. Parent's greatest success has been in television, most notably with '' The Golden Girls'' and

Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman, 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, comedian, singer, writer, producer, and director. Her earliest mainstream appearances were on British television sketch comedy shows '' A Kick Up the Eighties'' ( ...

's sketch comedy series '' Tracey Takes On...'', serving as a producer and writer for both. She also wrote episodes of ''

The Smothers Brothers Show ''The Smothers Brothers Show'' is an American fantasy sitcom featuring the Smothers Brothers that aired on CBS on Friday nights at 9:30 p.m. ET from September 17, 1965, to April 22, 1966, co-sponsored by Alberto-Culver's VO5 hairdressing ...

'', ''

'', '' Rhoda'', Steven Spielberg's ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances ...

'', '' Babes'' (of which she also served as series creator) and ''

Finder of Lost Loves ''Finder of Lost Loves'' is an American drama series aired by the ABC network during the 1984–1985 season. Synopsis After Cary Maxwell's (Anthony Franciosa) wife Kate dies, he decides to set up a private detective agency specializing in reu ...

'', and the musical variety

special Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

'' Sills and Burnett at the Met'' (1976). With Ann Marcus, she co-created the 1976-77 soap opera satire ''

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' is an American satirical soap opera that aired in daily weeknight syndication from January 1976 to July 1977. The series follows the titular Mary Hartman, an Ohio housewife attempting to cope with various bizarre ...

''. With

Kenny Solms Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names. In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish ''Ó Cionnaith'', also spelt ''Ó Cionnaoith'' and ''Ó Cionaodha'', meaning "descendant of Cionnaith". ...

, she created the 1970 situation comedy '' The Tim Conway Show''. Parent is the winner of a

CableACE Award The CableACE Award (earlier known as the ACE Awards; ACE was an acronym for "Award for Cable Excellence") is a defunct award that was given by what was then the National Cable Television Association from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in Am ...

and two

Emmys The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, and has been nominated for an additional twelve Emmys and two Writers Guild of America Awards.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parent, Gail Jewish American screenwriters American television producers American women television producers American screenwriters American television writers American women television writers Emmy Award winners American women screenwriters 1940 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women