Jeffrey Paul Rake is an American

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon a ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, pla ...

. He is known for his work on ''

Boston Legal ''Boston Legal'' is an American legal drama and comedy drama television series created by former lawyer and Boston native David E. Kelley, produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The series aired from October 3, 2004 ...

'' and creating the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

shows ''Manifest'', ''

The Mysteries of Laura ''The Mysteries of Laura'' is an American police procedural comedy-drama television series that premiered on September 17, 2014 on NBC. It was developed by Jeff Rake, who also serves as an executive producer. The series, which stars Debra Messi ...

'' and ''

Miss Match ''Miss Match'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Jeff Rake and Darren Star and produced by 20th Century Fox Television, Darren Star Productions, and Imagine Television. It aired in the United States on NBC from Septembe ...

''.

Biography

Rake was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and grew up in

Encino, Los Angeles Encino (Spanish for "oak") is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History In 1769, the Spanish Portolá expedition, first Europeans to see inland areas of California, traveled north through Sepulveda P ...

. He attended

Harvard-Westlake School Harvard-Westlake School is an independent, co-educational university preparatory day school consisting of two campuses located in Los Angeles, California, with approximately 1,600 students enrolled in grades seven through twelve. Its two prede ...

and graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in 1990. He was the president of

Columbia College Columbia College may refer to one of several institutions of higher education in North America: Canada * Columbia College (Alberta), in Calgary * Columbia College (British Columbia), a two-year liberal arts institution in Vancouver * Columbia In ...

Student Council during his senior year. At Columbia, he was also a classmate of television producer Gina Fattore and

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

-winning film producer

Dede Gardner Dorcas Wright "Dede" Gardner (born October 16, 1967) is an American film producer and the president of Plan B Entertainment. She is a two-time Oscar winner for ''12 Years a Slave'' and ''Moonlight'', the first woman to win two Oscars for Best ...

. He received a J.D. degree from

UC Berkeley School of Law The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of 1 ...

, where he was a finalist in the James Patterson McBaine Honors

Moot Court Moot court is a co-curricular activity at many law schools. Participants take part in simulated court or arbitration proceedings, usually involving drafting memorials or memoranda and participating in oral argument. In most countries, the phrase ...

Competition and an executive editor of the ''

California Law Review ''California Law Review'' (also referred to as ''CLR'') is the journal of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. It was established in 1912. The application process consists of an anonymous write-on competition, with grades playing ...

''. After graduating from law school, Rake clerked for two federal judges and joined one of L.A.'s top law firms. During his tenure as a lawyer, he took a leave of absence and wrote the musical ''Hound Dog: A hip hOpera,'' an alternative history of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

starring

Wayne Brady Wayne Alphonso Brady (born June 2, 1972) is an American television personality, comedian, actor, and singer. He is a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' He was the host ...

. The play premiered in 1996 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. Rake then entered the television business and co-created the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

series ''The Street'' in 2000. He then put his legal knowledge to work by writing and producing episodes of ''

'' and ''

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 ...

''. He co-wrote the pilot for ''

'', co-created the series ''

'' and ''

''. In 2017, he created the ''Manifest''. The show was initially cancelled, but was picked up by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

and became the third show to reach 100 days in Netflix's Top 10 charts. In August 2021, the show was renewed for a fourth season. ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' called him a member of the "Ex-Lawyers Club," a group of television showrunners, producers, and writers who were once lawyers before switching careers and joining the entertainment industry. Other ex-lawyers named by the ''Times'' were David E. Kelley,

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

Richard Appel Richard James Appel (born May 21, 1963) is an American writer, producer and former attorney. Since 2012, he has served as an executive producer and co-showrunner of ''Family Guy'' on Fox. He attended Harvard University and Harvard Law School. As ...

, and Stephen Engel.

Personal life and family

Rake is married to Paulette Light, executive director of the

Charles Bronfman Charles Bronfman, (born June 27, 1931) is a Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist and is a member of the Canadian Jewish Bronfman family. With an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion (as of 2021), Bronfman was ranked by ''Forbes'' a ...

prize, who he met in college.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rake, Jeff Living people People from Philadelphia People from Encino, Los Angeles Columbia College (New York) alumni Harvard-Westlake School alumni American television producers American television writers American television directors UC Berkeley School of Law alumni Lawyers from Los Angeles 1966 births