Suzanne Phillips Clauser (August 25, 1929 - April 11, 2016) was an American television writer. She wrote several award-winning television movies, including '' The Pride of Jesse Hallam'' and '' A Girl Named Sooner'' which was based on her novel of the same name. Clauser also wrote 11 episodes of the television series, ''

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 was the only woman to regularly write for the show.

Biography

Clauser was born on August 25, 1929, and grew up in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. Clauser studied literature at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

and graduated in 1951. She married Charles Clauser in 1951 and in 1954, when her husband earned a

Fulbright Grant The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

to study in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

and

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

, she went with him. Clauser moved to

Yellow Springs, Ohio Yellow Springs is a Village (Ohio), village in northern Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,697 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Dayton, Dayton metropolitan area and is home to Antioch ...

, when her husband got a job at

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene County, Ohio, Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patte ...

. Once in Yellow Springs, Clauser began to write and soon published a story about their married experiences in Asia. Clauser became interested in a class taught at

Antioch College Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...

that was taught by

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his Anthology series, anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone (1 ...

, a visiting faculty member. Serling sent one of her scripts to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and her script was picked up by producers of ''

''. The first episode that she wrote and was produced was titled "Woman of Fire" and released in 1964. She went on to write 11 ''Bonanza'' episodes. Clauser was the only woman to regularly write for ''Bonanza''. Clauser's television movie, ''Pioneer Woman'', won a 1973 Western Heritage Award from the Cowboy Hall of Fame. Clauser's screen adaptation of her novel of the same name, '' A Girl Named Sooner'', premiered in 1975 at Vevay. It was nominated for a

Writers Guild 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 The ...

. Her adaptation of ''Little Women'' showed on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

in 1978. Her script for the television movie, '' The Pride of Jesse Hallam'' won an award for the best original television play in 1981. ''Christmas Snow'' (1986) earned the title of best children's program at the 1987 Golden Gate Awards. While Clauser wrote, she continued to work as a housewife in Yellow Springs. She was part of a writer's group in Yellow Springs that she joined in 1962, and which she felt had strong influence on her writing. She retired from scriptwriting in the 1990s. and Clauser died April 11, 2016, in her home in Yellow Springs.

Selected filmography

*''

'' (1964-1971) *''Pioneer Woman'' (1973) *'' A Girl Named Sooner'' (1975) *''Little Women'' (television 1978) *'' The Pride of Jesse Hallam'' (1981) *''Christmas Snow'' (1986)

Selected bibliography

* *

References

External links

* *
Suzanne Clauser Papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clauser, Suzanne 1929 births 2016 deaths 21st-century American women People from Yellow Springs, Ohio Indiana University Bloomington alumni American women writers American television writers