Joe Keenan (born July 14, 1958) is an American

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 ...

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, 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 acce ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

. Known for his television work on series like ''

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Casey, and David Lee (scr ...

'' and ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...

'', Keenan has been referred to as the "gay

P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

" for his three successful novels.

Early life

Keenan was born in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

into an

Irish American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family. He has a twin brother, John, and two other siblings, Ronald and Geraldine. He grew up in the blue collar neighborhood of Cambridgeport. Keenan attended Boston College High School and Columbia College.

Early career

In 1991 ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...

'' creators James Burrows and Glen and Les Charles, having read Keenan's novel ''Blue Heaven,'' invited Keenan to create a new sitcom for their production company. The resulting pilot, ''Gloria Vane'', starring

JoBeth Williams Margaret JoBeth Williams (born December 6, 1948) is an American actress. She rose to prominence appearing in such films as '' Kramer vs. Kramer'' (1979), '' Stir Crazy'' (1980), ''Poltergeist'' (1982), '' The Big Chill'' (1983), '' The Day After' ...

, was not picked up by a network, but it led to a writing post on ''

''. In 1992, his first play, ''The Times'', a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

that charts the course of a seventeen-year marriage between Liz, an actress, and Ted, a writer, won the Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater, awarded by the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

. In 1993, the lyrics for ''The Times'' won the Edward Kleban Award.

''Frasier''

He joined the staff of the

sitcom 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 ...

'' as an executive

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 ...

in 1994 for the series' second year. His first produced script for the series, " The Matchmaker", received an

Emmy Award 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 ...

nomination, a

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...

, and the 1995

Writers Guild 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 The ...

for Episodic Comedy. He won a writing Emmy Award in 1996 for being one of eight writers of the classic Season 3 episode, "Moon Dance", and also received Emmy Award nominations for "The Ski Lodge" episode in 1998 and, with Christopher Lloyd, "Something Borrowed, Someone Blue," in 2000, which won the 2001 WGA award for Episodic Comedy. During his six-season tenure on ''Frasier'' he rose through the ranks from executive story editor to co-producer, supervising producer, co-executive producer, and finally, executive producer. He was

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

when the series ended in 2004. He also co-wrote the

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, ...

, " Goodnight, Seattle." Keenan won five

s during his tenure on the show. He was nominated for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series five times, and won once. He won the Outstanding Comedy Series award four times for his work as the show's producer. He also won 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 ...

s for his work on the series.

''Desperate Housewives'' and beyond

In 2006, Keenan joined ''

'' as a writer and executive producer for the third season of the television show. Although his work received good critical response, and one of his episodes," Bang", was named the best of the season by many critics, he left the series after one year. Keenan also created two short-lived comedy series with fellow ''Frasier'' producer and writer

Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and television shows since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future (franchise), ''B ...

: '' Bram & Alice'' in 2002 and '' Out of Practice'' in 2005. He also co-wrote the 1994 film '' Sleep with Me'' as well as 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 ...

for the 2007

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origina ...

-winning animated feature ''

Flushed Away ''Flushed Away'' is a 2006 animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Features. The film was directed by Sam Fell and David Bowers, from a screenplay by Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keen ...

''.

Fiction

Keenan is also a published author, and has been referred to as a "gay

". As of 2007, he has written three

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

s: * '' Blue Heaven'' (1988), * '' Putting On the Ritz'' (1991), and *'' My Lucky Star'' (2006). ''Putting on the Ritz'' won the Lambda Literary Award for Humor in 1991, and ''My Lucky Star'' won the

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary Foundation, Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ+ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ+ literatur ...

for Humor in 2006. In October 2007, the novel also won the Thurber Prize for American Humor.

Personal life

Keenan lives in

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, ...

, but does not drive a car. He has been with his husband, Gerry Bernardi, since 1982.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Joe Keenan profile
- GLBTQ Encyclopedia; accessed November 20, 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Keenan, Joe 1958 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American male screenwriters American people of Irish descent Television producers from Massachusetts American gay writers Lambda Literary Award winners American LGBTQ screenwriters Living people Writers from Cambridge, Massachusetts Writers Guild of America Award winners American LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights American LGBTQ novelists LGBTQ people from Massachusetts 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights Annie Award winners 20th-century American male writers Boston College High School alumni Columbia College (New York) alumni 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Massachusetts Screenwriters from Massachusetts