Bill Persky (born September 9, 1931) is an American television director,

screenwriter 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 ...

, and producer.

Biography

Persky was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family, the son of an estate auctioneer. His father would travel between various resort towns where the wealthy lived to conduct estate auctions. He has one older sister, Bunny Persky Grossinger, and attended Ramble Elementary School in

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County, Arkansas, Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs ...

. During the summers, he worked as a lifeguard in the

Borscht Belt The Borscht Belt, or Yiddish Alps, is a region which was noted for its summer resorts that catered to Jewish vacationers, especially residents of New York City. The resorts, now mostly defunct, were located in the southern foothills of the Catski ...

in the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

. He attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

, where he studied advertising, and after school went to work for an advertising agency in New York City. He then took a job at WNEW where he met Sam Denoff where they wrote jokes for the DJs out of fun which soon morphed into part of their job tasks. The writing team moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in the 1960s, taking a job to write for ''

The Steve Allen Show ''The Steve Allen Show'' is an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC,

''. Persky and Denoff wrote some of the most popular episodes of '' The Dick Van Dyke Show''. They later wrote and created the television show '' That Girl'' starring

Marlo Thomas Margaret Julia "Marlo" Thomas (born November 21, 1937) is an American actress, producer, author, and social activist. She is best known for starring on the sitcom ''That Girl'' (1966–1971) and her Children's television series, children's franc ...

as well as '' Good Morning World'' starring Joby Baker and Ronnie Schell. Persky directed 100 episodes of the

situation comedy 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 ...

'' Kate and Allie''. He also directed the situation comedies ''

The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy i ...

'' (1976) and '' Busting Loose'' (1977), and the movie '' Serial'' (1980). In 2015, Persky appeared on the reality TV show ''NY:ER'' (season 2, episode 13) as himself after suffering a collapsed lung. In the appearance, Persky had his wife bring a copy of his book ''My Life as a Situation Comedy'' to the ER so he could sign a copy for his nurse. His wife also claimed to have brought him a bottle of bourbon, which was not shown.

Personal life

Persky has been married three times. He has three daughters with his first wife: neuropsychologist Dana Persky, restaurateur Jamie Persky, and television producer Liza Persky. He had fourth daughter, Alexandra Feldon, with his second wife Marsha Pinkstaff. His third wife is New York advertising executive Joanna Patton.

References

External links

An interview with Bill Persky, March 2011Audio interview with Bill Persky, July 2014
* * 1931 births American television directors American television producers American television show creators American male screenwriters 20th-century American Jews Primetime Emmy Award winners Living people 21st-century American Jews {{US-screen-writer-1930s-stub