Samuel D. Ratcliffe (born 1945, died 1995 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) was 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 ...

for daytime television. He grew up in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

and graduated from

Birmingham Southern College Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, moving to New York in 1968 to pursue a career as an actor. From 1968 until the mid-seventies, he appeared in commercials, films and theatre. He was Matt in the long-running off-Broadway play,

The Fantasticks ''The Fantasticks'' is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the 1894 play ''The Romancers'' (''Les Romanesques'') by Edmond Rostand, concerning two ne ...

and starred in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

musical, Hurry Harry. In 1976 he began to write for daytime television dramas. He won numerous awards, including a

Daytime Emmy 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 ...

in 1991 for his work as head writer for

NBC Daytime NBC Daytime was the daytime programming block of NBC. It historically featured many soap operas, game shows, and talk shows. Its main competitors were CBS Daytime (Paramount) and ABC Daytime (Disney). Game shows were removed from NBC Daytime's ...

's '' Santa Barbara''. He also served 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 ...

for NBC's ''

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

'' and '' Another World''.

Awards and nominations

Daytime Emmy Awards 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 *(1991; Best Writing; ''Santa Barbara'') NOMINATIONS *(1985; Best Writing; ''Guiding Light'') *(1985, 1994 & 1996; Best Writing; ''Another World'')

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 *(1991 & 1992 seasons; ''Santa Barbara'') NOMINATIONS *(1985 season; ''Guiding Light'') *(1993 season; ''Santa Barbara'') *(1994, 1995 & 1996 seasons; ''Another World'')

Head writing tenure

External links

ref>The New York Times

References

American soap opera writers American male screenwriters 1945 births 1995 deaths Daytime Emmy Award winners Writers Guild of America Award winners American male television writers American television writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters {{US-tv-writer-stub