Gail Parent (born August 12, 1940) is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author.

Life and career

Parent was born Gail Kostner in New York City, New York, the daughter of Ruth (née Goldberg) and Theodore Kostner, a Wall Street executive. Parent is Jewish. Parent's writing career began in the 1960s where she teamed up with writer Kenny Solms. Her big break came when she began writing for ''

The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harv ...

''. She later went on to write for other TV shows including a 1971 episode of ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 ...

''. The following year her novel ''Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York'', which chronicled its unattractive, overweight,

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 ...

heroine A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

's romantic misadventures in Manhattan, became a best-seller that later served as the basis of a film starring Jeannie Berlin. Although the

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

was adapted by someone else, she penned the scripts for

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

's ''

The Main Event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

'' (1979) and ''

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen ''Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen'' is a 2004 American teen musical comedy film directed by Sara Sugarman from a screenplay by Gail Parent, based on Dyan Sheldon's 1999 novel of the same name. It stars Lindsay Lohan as an aspiring tee ...

'' (2004). Parent co-wrote the book for the 1974 musical ''

Lorelei The Lorelei ( ; or , or ; also found as ''Loreleï'', ''Lore Lay'', ''Lore-Ley'', ''Lurley'', ''Lurelei'' and ''Lurlei'' throughout history) is a , steep slate rock on the right bank of the River Rhine in the Rhine Gorge (or Middle Rhine) at ...

''. It is her sole

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

credit. Parent's greatest success has been in television, most notably with ''

The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. The show's ensemble cast stars Beatrice Arthur, Betty ...

'' and

Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman; 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, singer, dancer, screenwriter, producer, and director. Despite being frequently referred to as a comedian, Ullman considers herself a character actress. Critics h ...

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

series '' Tracey Takes On...'', serving as a producer and writer for both. She also wrote episodes of '' The Smothers Brothers Show'', ''

'', ''

Rhoda ''Rhoda'' is an American sitcom television series created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns starring Valerie Harper that originally aired on CBS for five seasons from September 9, 1974 to December 9, 1978. It was the first spin-off of ''The ...

'',

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

's ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...

'', '' Babes'' (of which she also served as series creator) and ''

Finder of Lost Loves ''Finder of Lost Loves'' is an American drama television series aired by the ABC network during the 1984–1985 season. Synopsis After Cary Maxwell's (Anthony Franciosa) wife Kate dies, he decides to set up a private detective agency speciali ...

'', and the musical variety

special Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer * Special police forces ...

'' Sills and Burnett at the Met'' (1976). With Ann Marcus, she co-created the 1976-77 soap opera satire ''

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' is an American satirical soap opera broadcast on weeknights from January 1976 to July 1977. The syndicated series follows the eponymous Mary Hartman, a small-town Ohio housewife attempting to cope with various bi ...

''. With Kenny Solms, she created the 1970 situation comedy '' The Tim Conway Show''. During the 1990-91 television season, Parent and Los Angeles newscaster Kelly Lange co-hosted the ''Kelly and Gail'' talk show which aired on

KNBC-TV KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Co ...

. Parent is the winner of a CableACE Award and two

Emmys 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 ...

, and has been nominated for an additional twelve Emmys and two

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parent, Gail Jewish American screenwriters American television producers American women television producers American women television writers American television writers Primetime Emmy Award winners American women screenwriters 1940 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women