Alan Kirschenbaum (April 19, 1961 – October 26, 2012) was an American television

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

producer and writer.

Early life, family and education

Kirschenbaum was born in New York to

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

Freddie Roman (a.k.a. Fred Kirschenbaum) and Ethel Kirschenbaum. He had a sister, Judi. Alan's paternal great-grandfather owned the Crystal Springs Hotel in the Catskills, where Freddie Roman began performing. Alan attended high school in

New City, New York New City is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York, United States, part of the New York Metropolitan Area. A suburb of New York City, the hamlet is located north of the city at its closest p ...

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state's ...

. He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Wharton School of Business The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

with a degree in marketing in 1983.

Career

Television

His early work in television was as a writer for the

Judd Hirsch Judd Seymore Hirsch (born March 15, 1935) is an American actor. He is known for playing Alex Rieger on the television comedy series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), John Lacey on the NBC series '' Dear John'' (1988–1992), and Alan Eppes on the CBS ser ...

sitcom '' Dear John'' and the short-lived '' Everything's Relative''. He directed some episodes of the sitcom ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American television sitcom created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch and Wor ...

'' (created by his high school friend Philip Rosenthal) and was the head writer for '' Coach'' for three seasons. He was a writer for ''

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, parente ...

'', a co-creator, writer and producer of the sitcom ''

Yes, Dear ''Yes, Dear'' is an American sitcom created by Alan Kirschenbaum and Gregory Garcia that originally ran on CBS for six seasons, from October 2, 2000, to February 15, 2006, with a total of 122 episodes. It starred Anthony Clark, Jean Louisa K ...

'', a producer/writer on ''

Raising Hope ''Raising Hope'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia that aired on Fox from September 21, 2010, to April 4, 2014. Following its first season, the show received two nominations at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. Martha Pli ...

'', creator of '' Down the Shore'' (hiring college friend Lew Schneider in the leading role and Phil Rosenthal to help with writing), and co-creator of the unaired series '' Friend Me''. He was a producer on '' Stark Raving Mad'' (an episode of which his father appeared in as himself) and '' Center of the Universe''.

Other endeavors

Kirschenbaum was also very involved in the sport of

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...

. He worked as a racehorse trainer in college at Liberty Bell Race Track in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and at the

Meadowlands Racetrack The Meadowlands Racetrack (currently referred to as Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment) is a horse racing track at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The track hosts both tho ...

in northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

for three years and reporter/commentator for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

on their

Breeders Crown The Breeders Crown is an annual series of harness races in the United States and Canada covering each of the sport's twelve traditional categories of age, gait and gender. The series was initiated by the Hambletonian Society, promoters of the Hamb ...

broadcasts. Kirschenbaum was an owner and horse breeder for many years. Kirschenbaum was also a supporter of the California Sire Stakes for harness horses. He was a supporter of the California Harness Horseman's Association, serving as president, along with being an avid amateur driver, racing in several East vs. West Coast challenges. Additionally, Kirschenbaum worked as an instructor for the

UCLA Extension UCLA Extension is a public continuing education institution headquartered in Westwood, Los Angeles, on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles. Classes are held at UCLA, in Downtown Los Angeles, and other locations throughout Los ...

Writers Program.

Personal life

Kirschenbaum and his wife, actress and storyteller Vicki Juditz, had a daughter, Molly (born c. 1999). He died by suicide on October 26, 2012. He was found dead in his home in

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. His funeral was in

References

External links

*
Alan Kirschenbaum
at Find a Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirschenbaum, Alan 1961 births 2012 deaths American television directors Television producers from New York City American male television writers Jewish American screenwriters Jewish American television writers American television writers Suicides in California Writers from New York City Screenwriters from New York (state) 2012 suicides 21st-century American Jews Burials at Kensico Cemetery