Lois Hire (1916-2006) was a television writer known for her work on ''

My Three Sons ''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was filmed in black-and-white and broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seve ...

'', ''

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired five seasons from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family of six children, with three boys and three gir ...

'', ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'', and ''

The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family ...

''. She also wrote the 1975 comedy '' Half a House''. Born Lois Elkins in Selma,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. After graduating from

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

, she moved west, first to Reno, Nevada, where she had a brief relationship with Judson Stevens. They had one daughter, who was born in San Francisco in 1936. She moved to

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, ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and worked on an aircraft assembly line, where she met her future husband, Argyl F. (Jack) Hire. They had two children, a son and a daughter, both born in Los Angeles. They resided in first Van Nuys (San Fernando Valley), and later in the Encino hills. She enrolled in a script-writing extension course at

Hollywood High School Hollywood High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. His ...

at the age of 44, and one of her instructors passed one of her assignments along to a friend who worked on ''

The Loretta Young Show ''The Loretta Young Show'' (originally known as ''Letter to Loretta'') is an American anthology drama television series broadcast on Sunday nights from September 2, 1953, to June 4, 1961, on NBC for a total of 165 episodes. The series was hoste ...

'', where it was accepted and produced in 1960. Despite reservations from one TV show's sponsors (who told executives they "can't buy a script from some housewife in Van Nuys"), Hire began to get more work, eventually going on to become one of the most prolific female TV writers of the '60s and '70s. She wrote over a dozen episodes of ''My Three Sons'', four episodes of ''Bonanza'', two episodes of ''The Brady Bunch'', and more.

Writing credits

* '' Young Maverick'' (TV) (episode "Half-Past Noon) (1980) * ''

Hello, Larry ''Hello, Larry'' is an American sitcom television series created by Dick Bensfield and Perry Grant, starring McLean Stevenson. It aired on NBC from January 26, 1979, to April 30, 1980. Its broadcast run consisted of 38 episodes over two seasons. ...

'' (TV) (episodes "Ruthie Grows Up: Part 2" and "Peer Pressure") (1979) * '' Half a House'' (1975) * ''

'' (TV) (episodes "You Can't Win 'Em All" and "Dear Libby") (1969–73) * ''

'' (TV) (18 episodes) (1967–1972) * '' The Virginian'' (TV) (episodes "Experiment at New Life" and "You Can Lead a Horse to Water" (1970) * ''

'' (TV) (episode "Jethro the Flesh Peddler") (1969) * ''

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 ...

'' (TV) (episode "Mr. French's Holiday") (1968) * '' Pistols 'n' Petticoats'' (TV) (episodes "The Golden Fleece" and "Bitter Blossom O'Brian") (1966–67) * '' The Rounders'' (TV) (episode "The Moonshine Still Shines") (1966) * ''

'' (TV) (4 episodes) (1963–65) * ''

The United States Steel Hour ''The United States Steel Hour'' is an anthology series which brought hour-long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the United States Steel Corporation (U.S. ...

'' (TV) (episode "The Go-Between) (1962) * ''

'' (TV) (episode "Unconditional Surrender") (1960)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hire, Lois 1916 births 2006 deaths American television writers American women television writers American women screenwriters 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American women