Brenda Hampton (born August 19, 1951) is an American

television show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

creator,

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and producer. She created, wrote and produced the television shows '' 7th Heaven'', ''

Fat Actress ''Fat Actress'' is an American comedy television series starring Kirstie Alley. In the United States, it aired on Showtime from March 7 to April 18, 2005. The series was created and written by Alley and Brenda Hampton. Premise Alley gave a g ...

'', and ''

The Secret Life of the American Teenager ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' (often shortened to ''Secret Life'') is an American teen drama television series created by Brenda Hampton. It aired on ABC Family from July 1, 2008, to June 3, 2013. The series features an ensemble ...

''.

Biography

Hampton grew up in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Her father was an electrical engineer for

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and a television repairman. She studied

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

, graduating in 1973. After finishing her university studies, she worked as a

technical writer A technical writer is a professional communicator whose task is to convey complex information in simple terms to an audience of the general public or a very select group of readers. Technical writers research and create information through a vari ...

for the

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, wrote speeches, technical manuals and

corporate A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of s ...

newsletters. In the 1980s, she moved to

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and began writing for '' Sister Kate'', an

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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 ...

which aired on the

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television network in 1989 and lasted one season. After ''Sister Kate'' finished, she worked as a

story editor Story editor is a job title in motion picture and television production, also sometimes called supervising producer. The responsibilities of the story editor vary depending on the production; this article describes the duties the role most commo ...

on the

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 ...

television comedy Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first Television in the United ...

, ''Baghdad Café'', featuring

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ...

. Hampton has worked on a number of television programs including the CBS sitcom '' Lenny'', the NBC comedy-drama ''

Blossom In botany, blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (genus ''Prunus'') and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring. Colloquially, flowers of orange are referred to as such as w ...

'', and the NBC comedy ''

Mad About You ''Mad About You'' is an American television sitcom starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a married couple in New York City as they navigate life together. In later seasons, the couple has a daughter. It initially aired on NBC from September 2 ...

''. In 1994 she worked with

David Landsberg David Landsberg (September 3, 1944 – August 5, 2018) was an American actor, writer, and producer. He was sometimes credited as Dave Landsburg. He both acted in and co-wrote several comedies throughout the 1980s. Early life David Landsberg was ...

to develop and executive produce the CBS series '' Daddy's Girls'', featuring

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. He first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-perf ...

and

Keri Russell Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976) is an American actress. She played the title role in the drama series '' Felicity'' (1998–2002), which won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama, and later portrayed El ...

in her first main television role. Hampton has three adopted children. Hampton created, wrote and executive produced the drama series ''7th Heaven'', which lasted 11 seasons and was nominated for and won a range of awards, including, numerous Young Artist, and

Teen Choice Award The Teen Choice Awards were an annual awards show that aired on the Fox television network between 1999 and 2019. The awards, based on a popularity vote that could be overridden by the producerswho reserved the right to choose the winnerscovered ...

s and an

Emmy 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 catego ...

nomination. In 2008, Hampton's new television show, ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' was released. The show, created, executive produced and written by Hampton, is filmed in Los Angeles by Hampton's production company, Brendavision. It is a youth-oriented drama series, aired on the

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

network. When ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' premiered, it became ABC Family's most-watched series premiere.

Awards

On February 10, 2010, Hampton accepted the Francis M. Wheat Community Service Award for her work as a child advocate, and for her work on ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager''.

Select television credits

*''

'' *''

'' *'' Safe Harbor'' *'' 7th Heaven'' *''

The John Larroquette Show ''The John Larroquette Show'' is an American sitcom television series that was created by Don Reo for NBC. ''The John Larroquette Show'' was a star vehicle for John Larroquette following his run as Dan Fielding on ''Night Court''. The series t ...

'' *''

References

External links

* *Longworth, James L., Chapter 9, "Brenda Hampton - Friend of the family"
''TV Creators: Conversations With America's Top Producers of Television Drama (The Television Series)''
Syracuse University Press, November, 2000, pp 137–154 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton, Brenda 1951 births Television producers from Georgia (U.S. state) American women television producers American television writers Living people Writers from Atlanta American women television writers The Secret Life of the American Teenager Screenwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American women writers Mass media people from Atlanta 21st-century American screenwriters