Blanche Hanalis (11 December 1915 – 27 July 1992) was an American screenwriter and television writer best known for developing the ''Little House on the Prairie'' series as well as several made-for-TV movies based on ''

Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books comprise a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adulthood in the Midwestern United States, Americ ...

''. Hanalis was born as Blanche Weiss in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, but grew up in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School in 1932. She was of Greek and Jewish descent. She has been quoted as saying her family was poor and she grew up "in the slums of Chicago." The family relocated to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

after her father's candy business failed, and she started working to help support them rather than attend college. Hanalis married Irving Wodin and together they had three children. In 1957, once the children were in school, she wrote her first television script and submitted it to ''

The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse ''The Philco Television Playhouse'' is an American television anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Gol ...

''. It was quickly accepted, and Hanalis continued writing for over thirty years. She wrote episodes for numerous television programs, including: ''

My Favorite Martian ''My Favorite Martian'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 29, 1963, to May 1, 1966, for 107 episodes. The show stars Ray Walston as "Uncle Martin" (the Martian) and Bill Bixby as Tim O'Hara. ''My Favorite Martian'' was th ...

'', ''

The Barbara Stanwyck Show ''The Barbara Stanwyck Show'' is an American anthology drama television series which ran on NBC from September 1960 to September 1961. Barbara Stanwyck served as hostess, and starred in all but four of the half-hour productions. The four in whi ...

'', ''

Family Affair ''Family Affair'' is an American sitcom starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attempt ...

'', and '' The Young Pioneers''. She wrote the screenplays for '' From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler'', '' A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'', and ''Portrait of a Rebel: The Remarkable Mrs. Sanger''. Her work, ''A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story'', was nominated for an Emmy award in 1978 for Outstanding Writing in a Special Program—Drama or Comedy—Adaptation. Hanalis won a Writers Guild of America Award in Television—Children's Script for her 1987 adaptation of ''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in ''The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is seen as a classic of English c ...

''. Hanalis also contributed to the story of a major motion picture '' Weddings and Babies'', which won the Critic's Award at the 1958 Venice Film Festival. Hanalis died in 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanalis, Blanche 1915 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American screenwriters