Ann Donahue is a prominent

television writer A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. She along with

Carol Mendelsohn Carol Mendelsohn (born 1951) is an American television producer, showrunner, and screenwriter, known for her work on the police procedural, crime drama ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''. Education Mendelsohn grew up in Chicago, where her fathe ...

and

Anthony E. Zuiker Anthony E. Zuiker (pronounced ; born August 17, 1968) is an American television writer, television producer, and author best known as the creator of ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''. He produced all 5 editions of the CSI (franchise), franchis ...

created the successful ''CSI'' franchise which includes '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', '' CSI: Miami'', '' CSI: NY'', and '' CSI: Cyber''.

Biography

Donahue's father was a pharmaceutical salesman, and she was raised in Cleveland and Cincinnati. She has five siblings. Writing for TV and film was an early ambition for her. After graduating from Loveland High School in Ohio, she attended

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

but left to get married and move to Los Angeles. After moving, she was a legal assistant by day and wrote at night. Her work gained notice when her 1985 play, ''Home Fires'', received the Los Angeles County Cultural Award after being produced locally. That recognition led to her being hired to write scripts for films and TV and to producing TV programs. She served as the showrunner for ''CSI: Miami'' until May 2012 when

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

cancelled the show. New long-term contracts in the fall of 2003 made Donahue and Mendelsohn "the two highest-paid female writers in television drama." Donahue's television credits include

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

-winning scripts for the popular series ''

Picket Fences ''Picket Fences'' is an American family drama television series about the residents of the town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on CBS in the United States. ...

''. Other television writing credits include ''

China Beach ''China Beach'' is an American war film, war drama television series set at an evacuation hospital during the Vietnam War. The title refers to My Khe Beach in the city of Da Nang, Đà Nẵng, Vietnam, nicknamed "China Beach" in English by Amer ...

'', ''

21 Jump Street ''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired from April 12, 1987 to April 27, 1991, spanning 103 episodes over five s ...

'', '' Murder One'', '' M.Y.O.B.'', ''

High Incident ''High Incident'' was a police drama television series produced by DreamWorks Television for the ABC network. The show was created by Steven Spielberg, Michael Pavone, Eric Bogosian, and Dave Alan Johnson. It aired from March 4, 1996, to May ...

'', and ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...

''. Donahue modeled the set of ''M.Y.O.B.'' after her high school alma mater. She has also written and produced a number of

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

plays. Donahue is an

out Out or OUT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films *Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 *Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander *O ...

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

.Curve Magazine, "Take That! TV's Top 10 "Lesbian" Crime-Fighter Shows", Volume 13, Number 4

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donahue, Ann American television writers American women television writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) American lesbian writers Showrunners 20th-century American women writers American women television producers American women television directors American television directors 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American women writers American LGBTQ screenwriters People from Loveland, Ohio