Paul A. Mendelson is an English television, film and radio scriptwriter.

Early life and career

He studied law at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, where he gained a first class honours degree, after attending Newcastle Royal Grammar School, Glasgow High School and Harrow County Grammar. For a short time he ran the family law department of a small firm of city

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

s and then became an advertising copywriter for Ogilvy and Mather. Whilst working as creative director for a major London advertising agency, he began writing his first television series.

Writing career

Paul Mendelson's first hit television series was the BBC Comedy ''

May to December ''May to December'' is a British sitcom which ran for 39 episodes, from 2 April 1989 to 27 May 1994 on BBC1. The series was created by Paul Mendelson and produced by Cinema Verity. Set in Pinner, Greater London, it revolved around the romanc ...

'', which ran for 39 episodes, from 2 April 1989 to 27 May 1994 on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

and was nominated for

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

best comedy. It starred

Anton Rodgers Anthony Rodgers (10 January 1933 – 1 December 2007) was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film, in television dramas and sitcoms. He starred in several sitcoms, including '' Fresh Fields'' (ITV, 1984– ...

as a widower solicitor in love with a much younger woman. He then created and wrote the BBC series '' So Haunt Me'' about a family home haunted by the ghost of a Jewish mother, played by

Miriam Karlin Miriam Karlin (23 June 19253 June 2011) was an English actress whose career lasted for more than 60 years. She was known for her role as Paddy in ''The Rag Trade'', a 1960s BBC and 1970s LWT sitcom, and in particular for the character's catchp ...

. The show was produced by

Cinema Verity Cinema Verity was a British independent television and film production company, founded in 1985 by Verity Lambert, the television producer, who named the company after herself and as a pun on the expression ' cinéma vérité'. The company's firs ...

for the BBC and originally aired from 1992 to 1994. Mendelson's most recent television situation comedy series in the UK is '' My Hero'' which ran for six seasons on BBC One from February 2000 to September 2006. Based on his own experiences with testicular cancer he wrote the acclaimed ITV play ''Losing It'', starring

Martin Clunes Alexander Martin Clunes (born 28 November 1961) is an English actor, director and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Martin Ellingham in the ITV comedy-drama series '' Doc Martin'', Gary Strang in the BBC sitcom ''Men Behavin ...

, for which he was nominated Televisual Awards Best Writer 2007. Having also survived

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

, Mendelson is actively involved in cancer awareness charities and events.

Current projects

Paul Mendelson created the original idea and is creative consultant on the

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...

/Fox forthcoming series ' Neighbors from Hell'. He writes original plays for BBC radio and adapts Joyce Porter's Chief Inspector Dover novels for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. Mendelson is currently developing his BBC radio play 'A Meeting in Seville' as a movie.

Writing credits

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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Paul Mendelson Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendelson, Paul Alumni of the University of Cambridge English male television writers English television writers English male screenwriters English radio writers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) British television show creators Year of birth missing (living people)