Stephen David Kandel (April 30, 1927 – October 21, 2023) was an American television writer.

Life and career

Stephen Kandel was born on April 30, 1927.Online Archive of California
/ref> In his youth, he grew up in Pennsylvania, and earned the "Excellence in Table Tennis" award at the age of 10. Following his graduation from high school at only 16 years old, he began college before being drafted and serving in the United States Army during World War II in Germany. During his time in the military he was stabbed in the chest, but went on to recover fully. Post-WWII, Kandel went on to graduate from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in 1950. Kandel wrote episodes for many popular series, from ''

Sea Hunt ''Sea Hunt'' is an American action adventure television series that aired in syndication from 1958 to 1961 and was popular for decades afterwards. The series originally aired for four seasons, with 155 episodes produced. It stars Lloyd Bridges ...

'' in the 1950s through ''MacGyver'' in the 1980s, with stops in between at '' Star Trek: The Original Series'', ''

Mannix ''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that originally aired for eight seasons on CBS from September 16, 1967, to March 13, 1975. The show was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer ...

'', ''Wonder Woman'', ''

The Six Million Dollar Man ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' is an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After being seriously injured in a NASA test f ...

'', ''

Cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

'', ''

Barnaby Jones ''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective fiction, detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law. They run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, Califor ...

'', ''

Banacek ''Banacek'' is an American detective television series starring George Peppard that aired on NBC from 1972 to 1974. The series was part of the rotating '' NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie'' anthology. It alternated in its time slot with several othe ...

'', and others. He was credited with writing the pilot episodes of ''

Daktari ''Daktari'' ( Swahili for "doctor") is an American family drama series that aired on CBS between 1966 and 1969. The series is an Ivan Tors Films Production in association with MGM Television starring Marshall Thompson as Marsh Tracy, a veter ...

'', ''Broken Promises'', and ''Chamber of Horrors'', and creating the series ''

Iron Horse ''Iron horse'' is a pervasive term (considered by the early twenty-first century to be transitioning into an archaic reference) for a steam locomotive and the railway on which it travels, originating in the early 1800s, when horses still powered ...

''. Kandel later moved to Beverly Hills with his wife Anne Kandel, where they raised four children: Jessica, Anthony, Elizabeth, and Joanna. Kandel was a member of the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...

. Following his career in Hollywood, Kandel moved to the east coast where he resided in Massachusetts and New York. In his retirement, at the age of 93, Kandel authored a book titled ''The Lyin' King: A Tragical Tale Of Tawdry Trumpery,'' a semi-satirical critique of Donald Trump's numerous shortcomings. His father,

Aben Kandel Aben Kandel (August 15, 1897 – January 28, 1993) was an American screenwriter, novelist, and boxer. He was screenwriter on such classic B movies as '' I Was A Teenage Werewolf'', Joan Crawford's final movie '' Trog'', and one of Leonard Nimoy's ...

, was also a screenwriter, and his younger sister,

Lenore Kandel Lenore Kandel (January 14, 1932, New York City – October 18, 2009, San Francisco, California) was an American poet, affiliated with the Beat Generation and Hippie counterculture. Biography Although Kandel was born in New York, her family l ...

, was a

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members o ...

poet and activist. His uncle, Charlie Kandel, was a renowned monetary specialist, and was also a well-known philosopher in various elite intellectual circles. Stephen Kandel died in his home on October 21, 2023, at the age of 96.

Awards

Kandel was a recipient of the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe award and the Writers Guild of America Humanities award. According to film commentator Tom Weaver, Kandel's "resume reads like a Baby Boomer's dream list of must-see TV".''Earth vs. the Sci-Fi Filmmakers: 20 Interviews''
/ref>

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kandel, Stephen 1927 births 2023 deaths American television writers American male screenwriters American male television writers 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers Dartmouth College alumni