Ronald David Carlivati (born November 25, 1968) is an American screenwriter. He is best known for his tenures as

head writer A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio ...

on the

ABC Daytime ABC Daytime (sometimes shortened to ABC-D or ABCD) is a division responsible for the daytime television programming block on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC Network and syndicated programming. The block has historically encompassed soap o ...

soap operas A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originated from radio dramas original ...

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as ...

'' and ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

''. He served as head writer for the Peacock soap opera ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

'' until his departure in July 2024.

Career

It was announced in the February 27, 2007, edition of ''

Soap Opera Digest ''Soap Opera Digest'' was a weekly magazine covering American daytime soap operas. It featured onscreen and offscreen news about the series, interviews with and articles about performers, storyline summaries and analysis, and related promotional ...

'' that Carlivati was promoted to Co-Head Writer of ''

'' alongside

Dena Higley Dena Higley (born September 26, 1958) is an American writer, speaker and author. Early life and career Higley grew up in East County, San Diego and was the first of three children. She moved to Los Angeles as a teenager eventually graduating from ...

. On June 4, 2007,

Frank Valentini Frank Valentini is the executive producer for the ABC soap opera ''General Hospital''. He previously held the position of executive producer, director, and composer for the ABC soap opera ''One Life to Live''. From 1986 to 1992, he worked as sta ...

announced that Carlivati would be promoted to head writer effective immediately. The first episode with Carlivati as Head Writer aired September 11, 2007. Due to ''One Life to Lives cancellation on ABC, and later the show's abandoned transition to online distribution via production company

Prospect Park Prospect Park may refer to: Businesses * Prospect Park (production company), entertainment production company *Prospect Park Productions NZ, theatre company based in Dunedin, New Zealand Places New Zealand * Prospect Park, New Zealand, a portion ...

, it was announced on December 1, 2011, that Carlivati would be taking over as head-writer on ABC's one remaining soap, ''

'' effective January 9, 2012. The first episode with Carlivati as head writer aired February 21, 2012.

''One Life to Live''

In the months that followed Carlivati's promotion to head writer, the show experienced a creative resurgence, receiving great critical acclaim for revitalizing characters, routinely incorporating and honoring the show's long history, and improving dialogue. However, the show's ratings continued to slide, a problem that all daytime soap operas have been experiencing in recent years. Carlivati's work aired until February 14, 2008, when the WGA strike forced a new headwriter (

Gary Tomlin Gary Tomlin is an American soap opera actor, writer, producer and director. Career Tomlin's career on daytime serials began in 1973 when he was cast on CBS's ''Search for Tomorrow'' as Bruce Carson. He also made a guest appearance on "The Nightwal ...

) to take over. Once the WGA strike was settled, Carlivati returned as headwriter, with his post-strike episodes hitting the air waves on May 2, 2008. On June 20, 2008, Carlivati and his writing team won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series for his work on ''OLTL''. With the end of ''One Live to Live'''s television run in January 2012, Carlivati joined the writing team at ''General Hospital''.

''General Hospital''

Following the end of ''One Life to Live'' in January 2012, Carlivati was appointed head writer of ''General Hospital'', and his material began airing towards the end of February. In an effort to bring over fans of ''One Life to Live'', who were now without a soap to call their own, Carlivati brought over

Kristen Alderson Kristen DeAnn Alderson (born May 29, 1991) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for playing the role of Starr Manning on the ABC soap opera ''One Life to Live'' (1998 to 2012) and the ABC soap opera ''General Hospital'' (2012 t ...

(''

Starr Manning Starr Manning is a fictional character from the daytime drama ''One Life to Live''. Born onscreen on January 8, 1996, the role was initially portrayed by infant children. In 1998, Starr was SORAS, rapidly aged when young actress Kristen Alderson de ...

''), Kassie DePaiva (''

Blair Cramer Blair Cramer is a fictional character from the American daytime drama series ''One Life to Live'', played since 1993 by Kassie DePaiva. Introduced as the niece of lead antagonist Dr. Dorian Cramer Lord, the role was originated by Mia Korf fro ...

''),

Michael Easton Michael Easton (born February 15, 1967) is an American film, television and voice actor, writer, and director. Although the Emmy-nominated actor may be best known for his work on the series ''Ally McBeal'', '' VR.5,'' ''Total Recall 2070, One Li ...

('' John McBain''),

Roger Howarth Roger Howarth (born September 13, 1968) is an American actor. He played character Todd Manning on the daytime drama ''One Life to Live'' (''OLTL''); the character earned Howarth a Daytime Emmy Award in 1994, and is cited as an icon in the soap ...

(''

Todd Manning Thomas Todd Manning is a fictional character from the American daytime drama ''One Life to Live'' (''OLTL''). Created by writers Michael Malone (author), Michael Malone and Josh Griffith, the role was originated in 1993 by actor Roger Howarth. T ...

'') and

Florencia Lozano Florencia Lozano (born December 16, 1969) is an American actress. She starred as Téa Delgado on the daytime series ''One Life to Live''. Lozano has guest-starred in several primetime television shows, as well as films. Early life Florencia Lo ...

('' Tea Delgado'') to bring their signature roles to ''General Hospital''. While DePaiva and Lozano only appeared in a guest capacity, the other three became contract cast members. When copyright issues intervened, dictating that the show could not use the characters of Starr Manning, Todd Manning, and John McBain; the three actors under contract at the time were recast as Kiki Jerome, Robert "Franco" Frank, and Silas Clay. In addition to casting the former One Life to Live actors shortly after his arrival, Carlivati also made a point of re-introducing a wide variety of fan favorite veterans to the canvas, including

Tristan Rogers Tristan Rogers (born 3 June 1946) is an Australian actor. He is best known for playing Robert Scorpio on the ABC soap opera ''General Hospital'' and for voicing Jake in Walt Disney Pictures' '' The Rescuers Down Under''. He is currently starri ...

(Robert Scorpio)

Genie Francis Genie Francis (born May 26, 1962) is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Laura Spencer (General Hospital), Laura Spencer on the television soap opera ''General Hospital'' from 1977 to present, for which she won a Daytim ...

( Laura Spencer),

Lynn Herring Sheryl Lynn Herring (born September 22, 1958) is an American actress and beauty pageant titleholder. She is known for her role as Lucy Coe on the long-running soap opera ''General Hospital'' which she has played on and off since 1986. Early lif ...

(

Lucy Coe Lucy Coe is a fictional character from the ABC Daytime soap operas ''General Hospital'' and ''Port Charles''. Portrayed by Lynn Herring, she first appeared in April 1986 on ''General Hospital'', introduced as an alibi in a murder plot. In 1997, ...

Finola Hughes Finola Hughes (born 29 October 1959) is a British actress, best known for her role as Anna Devane on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC soap operas ''General Hospital'' and ''All My Children'', and her portrayal of Laura in the 1983 film '' ...

(

Anna Devane ''General Hospital'' is the longest-running American television serial drama, airing on ABC. Created by Frank and Doris Hursley, who originally set it in a general hospital (hence the title), in an unnamed fictional city. In the 1970s, the city ...

Sean Kanan Sean Kanan (; Perelman; born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, producer, and author, best known for his portrayals of Mike Barnes (in '' The Karate Kid Part III'' and ''Cobra Kai''), A. J. Quartermaine (on ''General Hospital''), and De ...

(

A.J. Quartermaine A. J. Quartermaine is a fictional character from ''General Hospital'', an American soap opera on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network. Born on-screen in 1979 as the only biological child of the iconic Drs. Alan Quartermaine and Monica Qu ...

) and

Kin Shriner Kin Herbert Shriner (born December 6, 1953) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Scott Baldwin on the ABC soap opera ''General Hospital'' and its spin-off, ''Port Charles''. Early life Shriner and his twin brother, actor Wi ...

(

Scott Baldwin Scott "Scotty" Baldwin is a fictional character from the ABC soap opera ''General Hospital'' and its now-defunct spinoff ''Port Charles''. The character debuted played by child actors in the 1960s until Kin Shriner assumed the role in 1977. Sc ...

) for extended runs. Many of them helped make the 50th anniversary a success during the aforementioned transitional absence of the contracted actors brought over from ''One Life to Live''. On July 24, 2015, ABC announced their decision to replace Carlivati as head-writer of ''

'' with

Shelly Altman Michelle "Shelly" Altman is an American soap opera writer who is known as breakdown and associate head writer of American daytime soap operas, including '' Another World'', ''General Hospital'' and ''One Life to Live''. Career In 1987, Altman co-w ...

and

Jean Passanante Jean Passanante (born June 26, 1953) is an American television screenwriter, best known for her work in daytime soap operas. Passanante got her start as an actress doing bit parts in the 1980s, including the John Sayles' films '' Return of the S ...

''Days of Our Lives''

On January 23, 2017, Carlivati was announced as the newly appointed head writer for ''

'', replacing former co-head writers

and Ryan Quan. Per reports, this change is said to be "effective immediately". Carlivati's first credit as head writer began on July 19, 2017. On July 19, 2024, it was announced Carlivati had departed the soap as head writer, with his material to air until April 2025. Paula Cwikly and

Jeanne Marie Ford Jeanne Marie Ford (previously known as ''Jeanne Marie Grunwell'') is an American television soap opera writer. She is also an English teacher at Hagerstown Community College. Ford, formerly a member of Writers Guild of America West, left and maint ...

were named as his successors "effective immediately".

Personal life

Carlivati was born in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, and attended

McQuaid Jesuit High School McQuaid Jesuit High School is an all-male, Catholic, Jesuit, college preparatory school run by the USA Northeast Jesuit province of the Society of Jesus in the metropolitan area of Rochester, New York. The school is named Named after Bernard John M ...

. After graduating high school in 1986, Carlivati attended College of the Holy Cross for undergraduate studies and later went to

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

for graduate school, earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree, and currently lives in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. He is openly gay.

Awards and nominations

;

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

*WINS: (2008 ~ Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, ''One Life to Live'') *WINS: (2018 - Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, ''Days of Our Lives'') *NOMINATIONS: (2002 and 2006 ~ Best Writing, ''One Life to Live'') ;

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 ...

*Wins: (2016; Daytime Drama Writing) *Wins: (2014 and 2015; Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, ''General Hospital'') *NOMINATIONS: (2003 and 2006 ~ ''One Life to Live'')

Positions held

Head writing tenures

, - , - , - , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlivati, Ron American soap opera writers American male television writers Living people 1968 births American gay writers Writers from Rochester, New York Screenwriters from New York (state)