This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2012)

The Laurel Awards were cinema awards to honor pictures, actors, actresses, directors and composers. This award was created by Motion Picture Exhibitor magazine, and ran from 1958 to 1968, then 1970 and 1971.

The Golden Laurels were determined by American and Canadian film buyers. After the vote, the results were published in the magazine, without ceremony.

Awardees[link]

Best Picture

• Patton: 1971, not awarded any other year

Top Female Star

• Doris Day: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
• Elizabeth Taylor: 1965, 1966
• Julie Andrews: 1967, 1968
• Katharine Hepburn: 1970, 1971

Top Male Star

• Rock Hudson: 1958, 1959 1960, 1962, 1963
• Burt Lancaster: 1961
• Cary Grant: 1964, 1966
• Jack Lemmon: 1965, 1967
• Paul Newman: 1968, 1970
• Dustin Hoffman: 1971

Top Producer/Director

• Cecil B. DeMille: 1958
• Alfred Hitchcock: 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1970, 1971
• Billy Wilder: 1963
• Mervyn LeRoy: 1965
• Robert Wise: 1967, 1968

Top Director

• Fred Zinnemann: 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
• Vincente Minnelli: 1960
• George Cukor: 1965
• David Lean: 1966
• Henry Hathaway: 1967
• Norman Jewison: 1968
• Mike Nichols: 1970, 1971

External links[link]

• Laurel Awards at the Internet Movie Database

This film award-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Larry David
David at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival
Birth name	Lawrence Gene David
Born	(1947-07-02) July 2, 1947 (age 64) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	American[1]
Years active	1975–present
Genres	Improvisational comedy, observational comedy, sketch comedy
Subject(s)	Self-deprecation, everyday life, manners, sex, social norms
Influences	Phil Silvers, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen
Influenced	Jerry Seinfeld, Ricky Gervais, Jack Dee, Sarah Silverman, Jeff Garlin, Casper Christensen
Spouse	Laurie Lennard (1993–2007)
Notable works and roles	Writer & cast member, Fridays Co-creator & head writer, Seinfeld Creator, writer, & actor, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Writing - Comedy Series 1993 Seinfeld Outstanding Comedy Series 1993 Seinfeld

Lawrence Gene "Larry" David (born July 2, 1947) is an American actor, writer, comedian, and producer. He is best known as the co-creator (with Jerry Seinfeld), head writer, and executive producer of the television series Seinfeld from 1989 to 1996, and for creating the 1999 HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, a partially improvised sitcom in which he stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself.

David's work won him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1993. Formerly a standup comedian, David went into television comedy, writing and starring in ABC's Fridays, as well as writing briefly for Saturday Night Live. He has won two Primetime Emmy Awards as well as being voted by fellow comedians and comedy insiders as number 23 of the greatest comedy stars ever in a British poll to select The Comedian's Comedian.^[2]

Early life[link]

Lawrence Gene David^[3] was born to a Jewish family in the neighborhood of Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Sheepshead Bay High School and then the University of Maryland, with a bachelor's degree in history (1969), and then in business (1970).^[4] After college, David enlisted in the Air National Guard.^[5]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

While a stand-up comedian, David also worked as a store clerk, limousine driver, and television repairman to pay his bills. He lived in Manhattan Plaza, a federally-subsidized housing complex in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, across the hall from Kenny Kramer, the inspiration for the Cosmo Kramer character in Seinfeld.^[6] David then became a writer for and cast member of ABC's Fridays from 1980 to 1982, and a writer for NBC's Saturday Night Live (SNL) from 1984 to 1985.^[7] During his time at SNL, he was able to get only one sketch on the show, which aired at 12:50 AM, the last time slot on the show.^[8]

David quit his writing job at SNL midseason, only to show up to work a few days later acting as though nothing had happened. That plot inspired a second-season episode of Seinfeld entitled "The Revenge".^[9] David met his future Seinfeld stars during that early stage of his career: He worked with Michael Richards (Kramer) on Fridays^[7] and with Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Elaine)^[8] on SNL.^[10][11] He can be heard heckling Michael McKean when McKean hosted SNL in 1984, and he can be seen in the sketch "The Run, Throw, and Catch Like a Girl Olympics" when Howard Cosell hosted the season finale in 1985.^[12]

[edit] Seinfeld

In 1989, David teamed up with comedian Jerry Seinfeld to create a pilot for NBC called The Seinfeld Chronicles, which became the basis for Seinfeld, one of the most successful shows in United States television history,^[13] reaching the top on TV Guide's list of the 50 greatest TV shows of all time. Entertainment Weekly ranked it the third-best TV show of all time. David made occasional uncredited appearances on the show, playing such roles as Frank Costanza's cape-wearing lawyer and the voice of George Steinbrenner. He was also the primary inspiration for the show's character George Costanza.^[14] David left Seinfeld on amicable terms after the seventh season but returned to write the series finale in 1998, two years later.^[15] He also continued to provide the voice for the Steinbrenner character.^[16]

David wrote 62 of the episodes of Seinfeld, including 1992's "The Contest", for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award and which TV Guide ranked the episode #1 on its list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time".^[17]

Syndication of Seinfeld earned David an estimated US$250 million in 1998 alone. This amount has been steadily decreasing each year, but payments will continue until the full $1.7 billion from the original deal has been paid. In 2008 David made $55 million from Seinfeld syndication, DVD sales, and Curb Your Enthusiasm.^[18][19] He was nominated for an Emmy^[20] award 19 times for Seinfeld, winning twice—once for best comedy and once for writing.^[21]

[edit] Curb Your Enthusiasm

David in December 2009

The HBO cable television channel aired David's 1-hour special, Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm, on October 17, 1999.^[22] This was followed by Curb Your Enthusiasm, a television series on HBO that aired its first episode on October 15, 2000.^[22] The show revisits many of the themes of Seinfeld,^[23] and is improvised from a story outline only several pages long that David writes (as of the 5th season, additional writers were hired).^[24]

The actors improvise their dialogue based on the story outline, direction, and their own creativity. David has said that his character in the show, a fictionalized version of himself, is what he would be like in real life if he lacked social awareness and sensitivity.^[25] The character's numerous and frequent social faux pas and misunderstandings are the basis of much of the show's comedy and have led to the entry into the American pop culture lexicon of the expression "Larry David moment", meaning an inadvertently created socially awkward situation.^[26]

The basis of the show is David's life now that he has earned a fortune and has very little to do in semi-retirement.^[27] Alongside David is his wife Cheryl (played by Cheryl Hines), his manager and best friend Jeff (played by Jeff Garlin), and Jeff's wife Susie (played by Susie Essman). Celebrities, including comedians Bob Einstein, Wanda Sykes, and Richard Lewis, appear on the show regularly. Actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen have had recurring roles as themselves.^[27]

The show is critically acclaimed and has been nominated for 30 Primetime Emmy Awards, with one win, as well as one Golden Globe win. In the first six seasons, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jason Alexander appeared in several episodes, and Jerry Seinfeld made a cameo. In season 7, the cast of Seinfeld, including Michael Richards, returned in a story arc involving David's attempt to organize a Seinfeld reunion special.

In October 2009, the episode "The Bare Midriff", in which David's character inadvertently splatters urine on a picture of Jesus causing a woman to believe the picture had miraculously shed a tear, was the focus of some criticism when Fox News reported that Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, criticized it. HBO responded to the criticism, stating, "The humor is always playful and certainly never malicious."^[28]

On Wednesday, June 2, 2010, the series premiered on the TV Guide Network, making its network television debut. TV Guide Network also produced a series of related discussions with high-profile guest stars, media pundits, and prominent social figures called "Curb: The Discussion" debating the moral implications depicted in each episode. David is quoted as saying "Finally, thanks to the TV Guide Network, I'll get a chance to watch actual, intelligent people discuss and debate the issues addressed on 'Curb'. Now if only someone could tell me where this alleged 'Network' is, I might even watch it." ^[29]

Other projects[link]

David has also been involved in other films and television series. David wrote and directed the 1998 film Sour Grapes, about two cousins who feud over a casino jackpot.^[22] It was neither a commercial nor a critical success.^[30][31] He has appeared in minor parts in two Woody Allen films – Radio Days and New York Stories^[32] – more recently taking the leading role in Allen's New York-based comedy film Whatever Works.^[33] Because his daughters are Hannah Montana fans, David, along with his daughters, guest-starred, as themselves, in the episode "My Best Friend's Boyfriend," in which they were waiting for a table at a fancy restaurant.^[22] David had a cameo appearance on the HBO series Entourage as a client of Ari Gold, and also appeared as a panelist on the NBC series The Marriage Ref.

During the 2008 U.S Presidential Election, David supported and actively campaigned for Barack Obama.

In December 2010, David penned an op-ed piece for The New York Times, a sardonic critique of the extension of Bush-era tax cuts headlined "Thanks for the Tax Cut!" ^[34][35]

On May 3, 2011, it was reported that he had signed on to play Sister Mary-Mengele in The Three Stooges film, released in 2012.^[36][37]

Personal life[link]

David married Laurie Lennard on March 31, 1993. They have two daughters, and lived in Pacific Palisades, California.^[38] Both Davids became contributing bloggers at The Huffington Post in May 2005.^[39][40] On June 5, 2007, the couple announced their intention to amicably separate.^[41] Laurie David filed for divorce on July 13, 2007, citing irreconcilable differences and seeking joint custody of the couple's two daughters.^[42]

The results of a DNA test shown live on Lopez Tonight in 2009 revealed that 37% of David's ethnic lineage might be Native American.^[43] However, the test's accuracy is disputed by several genealogists.^[44]

Awards[link]

• Nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing - Comedy Series for various episodes of Seinfeld from 1991–1994.
• Won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing - Comedy Series for the Seinfeld episode, The Contest, in 1993.
• Shared a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series for Seinfeld with co-creator, Jerry Seinfeld.
• Nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy for his role in Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2002, 2004, & 2005.
• Voted by fellow comedians and comedy insiders as number 23 of the greatest comedy stars ever in a poll to select The Comedian's Comedian.^[2]
• Nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Comedy Series for his role in Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2010.

Books About[link]

• The Larry David Story: A Parallel Universe Biography
• Hitchhiking with Larry David: A True Story From Martha's Vineyard
• Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good: Larry David and the Making of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm by Josh Levine (ECW Press, 2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Larry David

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Larry David

• Larry David at the Internet Movie Database
• Larry David at HBO
• Top 100 Shows at Entertainment Weekly
• LarryDavidFan.com Fansite
• Larry David at Emmys.com

Steven Ernest Bernard Zaillian^[1][2] (born January 30, 1953) is an American screenwriter, director, editor, producer, and founder of Film Rites, a film production company. He won an Academy Award for his screenplay for Schindler's List and he has been nominated for Awakenings, Gangs of New York and Moneyball. The Times called him "the most artful and subtle screenwriter Hollywood has had since Robert Towne."^{[citation needed]}

Zaillian was born in Fresno, California, the son of Jim Zaillian, a radio news reporter. He attended Sonoma State University, graduated from San Francisco State University and lives in Los Angeles.^[3] He is of Armenian descent.^[4]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Steven Zaillian on Charlie Rose
• Steven Zaillian at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Steven Zaillian in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Steven Zaillian at the Notable Names Database
• Writings at One for the Table

This article about a United States film director born in the 1950s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Murphy Brown is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from November 14, 1988, to May 18, 1998, for a total of 247 episodes. The program starred Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional CBS television newsmagazine.^[2]

Overview[link]

The program was well known for "torn-from-the-headlines" stories and blatant political satire. It achieved a high level of political notoriety in the 1992 presidential election when Dan Quayle mentioned the show in a campaign speech, afterwards known as the "Murphy Brown speech".^[3]

The show began in the Monday 9/8PM timeslot and remained there until its final season when it was moved to Wednesday at 8:30/7:30PM. The series finale aired in its original Monday timeslot.

Characters[link]

Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen) is a recovering alcoholic, who, in the show's first episode, returns to the fictional newsmagazine FYI for the first time following a stay at the Betty Ford Clinic. Over forty and single, she is sharp-tongued and hard as nails. In her profession, she is considered "one of the boys", having shattered any and all "glass ceilings" encountered during her career. Dominating the FYI news magazine, she is portrayed as one of America's hardest-hitting (though not the warmest or more sympathetic) media personalities.

Her colleagues at FYI include stuffy veteran anchor Jim Dial (Charles Kimbrough), who affectionately addresses Murphy as "Slugger" and reminisces about the glory days of Murrow and Cronkite. Murphy's best friend and sometime competitor is investigative reporter Frank Fontana (Joe Regalbuto), the only person who addresses her as "Murph". Though a daredevil reporter, insecurities regarding fame and (especially) his personal relationships have him in psychotherapy for the majority of the series. In early seasons, there was a running gag about Frank's toupée, which he hated, but which producers insisted he wear on the show.

In the pilot, there were two "new" members of the FYI team introduced to Murphy. A new executive producer was appointed during her stay at Betty Ford: Miles Silverberg (Grant Shaud), a yuppie overachiever who was 25 and fresh from public television. Naive and neurotic despite his lightning intellect, Miles is the perfect object for Murphy's skewering wit. Corky Sherwood (Faith Ford) was Murphy's replacement during her "sabbatical". A former Miss America from the (fictional) town of Neebo, Louisiana, Corky is the bane of the other journalists with her perky personality—and utter lack of sophistication when it comes to world affairs. Due to overwhelming audience reaction, management decides to retain her services after Murphy's return.

The FYI team also frequently socializes at Phil's, a bar-and-grill across the street from their office/studio in Washington, D.C. Phil, the bar owner, was played by Pat Corley. Phil's was portrayed as a Washington institution, whose owner knew everything about everybody who had ever been anybody in the capital—ranging from what brand of lingerie J. Edgar Hoover preferred to the identity of Deep Throat (unknown to the public at the time of the series' production).

Brown was unmarried, but had a home life as well: she hired a laid-back, New Age philosophy-dispensing house painter named Eldin Bernecky (Robert Pastorelli) to repaint her house. He had so many grand ideas that he was in her employ for six seasons. Being a highly talented artist, his renovations were often delayed when struck by the urge to paint socially-relevant murals throughout the house.

In 2010, Murphy Brown was ranked #25 on the TV Guide Network special, 25 Greatest TV Characters of All Time.^[4]

Recurring characters[link]

A number of recurring characters also appeared during the show's run:

• John Hostetter played John, the unflappable stage manager in 62 episodes.
• Janet Carroll appeared as Doris Dial, anchorman Jim Dial's equally stoic wife, in several episodes. In the final season the role of Doris was portrayed by Concetta Tomei.
• Jay Thomas appeared in several episodes as tabloid talk show host Jerry Gold, who became a friend of Murphy's and an occasional love interest, despite their significantly different journalistic values.
• Colleen Dewhurst appeared in a number of episodes as Murphy's opinionated museum curator mother, Avery Brown. Dewhurst won several Emmy Awards for her appearances. When Dewhurst died in 1991, the writers chose to have her character die as well, and dedicated the episode to the memory of Dewhurst. Murphy, who was pregnant at the time of her mother's death, named her son Avery in her mother's memory the following season.
• Darren McGavin appeared in several episodes as Murphy's driven father, newspaper publisher Bill Brown. Bill shared an adversarial relationship with his ex-wife Avery—especially after marrying a fresh-faced twentysomething who taught yoga. McGavin earned an Emmy nomination in 1990 for his performance as Bill Brown.
• Scott Bakula appeared as reporter (and occasional love interest for Murphy) Peter Hunt.
• Jane Leeves appeared in a number of episodes as Miles' girlfriend Audrey Cohen. Though they were headed for marriage, the relationship ended when Leeves joined the cast of Frasier as Martin Crane's physiotherapist and Niles' love interest, Daphne.
• Robin Thomas appeared as Jake Lowenstein, underground leftist radical and Murphy's ex-husband. Murphy and Jake had another brief relationship, and Jake was the father of her child.
• Christopher Rich played Miller Redfield, an empty-headed, pretty-boy reporter with a local affiliate who had semi-regular appearances on the show, first as a substitute anchor when Jim was on leave, and also when the team went on strike.
• Paula Cale appeared as McGovern, a conservative young reporter based on MTV's Kennedy. She was added to the program when management tried to appeal to a younger demographic.
• Alan Oppenheimer appeared as news-division executive Gene Kinsela.
• Garry Marshall appeared as micro-managing network president Stan Lansing. His frequent and impromptu whims were the bane of the staff.
• Jean Stapleton appeared a few times, playing Miles' grandmother, Nana Silverberg.
• Rose Marie appeared as Frank Fontana's mother.
• Paul Reubens appeared in several episodes as Lansing's sociopathic nephew Andrew J. Lansing, III. He is introduced as one of Murphy's 93 secretaries du jour and, with Carol Kester (Marcia Wallace), was one of only two who measure up to Murphy's standards. Like Carol, Andrew is lured away from Murphy by another job by the end of the episode; in his case, he is promoted to a network executive position through nepotism. He periodically appears in later episodes in that capacity, mostly as his uncle's "black-ops" expert.
• Julia Roberts appeared in one episode, having a crush on Frank.
• Marian Seldes appeared as Murphy's eccentric and often-married aunt Brooke.
• In the show's final seasons, when the younger Avery Brown was of school age, he was portrayed by Haley Joel Osment, replacing child actor Dylan Christopher.
• Julius Carry appeared as Mitchell Baldwin, the new boss who replaced Gene Kinsela. Baldwin, an African-American, used the team's liberal-Caucasian guilt to railroad through changes in FYI′s format and content.

The early seasons[link]

The first season saw Murphy relearning her job without the use of two crutches—alcohol and cigarettes. In an early episode, she complained the only vice she had left herself was chewing yellow number-two pencils. It also set up the series-long running gag of Murphy's battles with the off-beat and sometimes downright bizarre characters that would be sent by Personnel to act as her secretary.

Like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the action was divided between the FYI suite of offices and Murphy's Georgetown townhouse. Reality often blended with fiction with the many cameos of then-current media and political personalities. The most prominent was when Murphy Brown was asked to guest star as herself in the pilot of a sitcom entitled Kelly Green, about a female investigative journalist. Life imitated art when, after a less-than stellar performance, Murphy was berated by television journalist Connie Chung (herself in a Murphy Brown cameo appearance) for crossing the line and compromising her credibility.

Subsequent seasons saw the emergence of story arcs involving network politics with Gene Kinsella, Frank and Murphy's rivalry and Eldin's ongoing infatuation with Corky. A standout event was Miss Sherwood's marriage to Louisiana lawyer Will Forrest. During the brief engagement, a horrified Corky comes to the realization that she will now be "Corky Sherwood-Forrest". In the wedding episode, maid-of-honor Murphy, dressed as an antebellum belle in a hoop-skirted nightmare of a bridemaid's dress, rages her way through the entire affair while thwarting the press's attempts to photograph the nuptials (mirroring the Sean Penn/Madonna wedding a few years earlier).

Murphy becomes a single mother[link]

In the show's 1991–1992 season, Murphy became pregnant. When her baby's father (ex-husband and current underground radical Jake Lowenstein) expressed his unwillingness to give up his own lifestyle to be a parent, Murphy chose to have the child and raise it alone. Another major fiction-reality blending came at Murphy's baby shower: the invited guests were journalists Katie Couric, Joan Lunden, Paula Zahn, Mary Alice Williams and Faith Daniels, who treated the fictional Murphy and Corky as friends and peers.

At the point where she was about to give birth, she had stated that "several people do not want me to have the baby. Pat Robertson; Phyllis Schlafly; half of Utah!" Right after giving birth to her son, Avery, Murphy sang the song "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin. This storyline made the show a subject of political controversy during the 1992 American presidential campaign. On May 19, 1992, then Vice President Dan Quayle spoke at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. During his speech,^[5] he criticized the Murphy Brown character for "ignoring the importance of fathers by birthing a child alone".^[6][7][8][9]

Quayle's remarks caused a public discussion on family values, culminating in the 1992–93 season premiere, "You Say Potatoe, I Say Potato", where the television characters reacted to Quayle's comments and produced a special episode of FYI showcasing and celebrating the diversity of the modern American family. Because Quayle's actual speech made little reference to Murphy Brown's fictional nature (other than the use of the word character), the show was able to use actual footage from his speech to make it appear that, within the fictional world of the show, Quayle was referring to Murphy Brown personally, rather than to the fictional character. At the end, Brown helps organize a special edition of FYI focusing on different kinds of families then arranges a retaliatory prank in which a truckload of potatoes is dumped in front of Quayle's residence, while a disc jockey commenting on the incident notes the Vice President should be glad people were not making fun of him for misspelling "fertilizer", (On June 15, 1992, at a spelling bee in Trenton, New Jersey, Quayle had erroneously corrected an elementary school student's spelling of "potato" to "potatoe".) When Candice Bergen won another Emmy that year, she thanked Dan Quayle. The feud was cited by E! as #81 on its list of "101 Reasons the '90s Ruled."^[10]

However, political commentator and cultural critic Mark Steyn observed that the producers didn't seem to have a clue what to do with her son Avery commenting, "In the five years since little Avery's birth ushered in the Clinton era, Murphy Brown has been on CBS every week, Dan Quayle has been back in Indiana (and Arizona). But Avery? As soon as he was born, Muphy made another 'lifestyle choice': she stuck him at the back of the closet under the Emmy Awards and the commendations from single-parent outreach groups and mouldering editorials hailing the show for its courage, and the poor kid hasn't been seen since."^[11]

In 2002, Bergen said in an interview that she personally agreed with much of Quayle's speech, calling it "a perfectly intelligent speech about fathers not being dispensable" and adding that "nobody agreed with that more than I did."^[12]

Quayle would eventually display a sense of humor about the incident—after the controversy died down, he appeared for an interview on an independent Los Angeles TV station and for his final question was asked what his favorite TV show was. He responded with "Murphy Brown—Not!" The station would later use the clip of Quayle's response to promote its showing of Murphy Brown re-runs in syndication.

Later years[link]

The fifth season would continue on after the departure of series-creator and showrunner Diane English. Murphy's struggles with parenthood would be highlighted, as would the revolving-door of nanny characters mirroring her office tribulations. Corky's marriage would unravel and end in divorce as she and Will grew apart. (Right before the wedding, Forrest had decided to abandon the practice of law and follow his true calling—creative writing.) This tragedy would see Corky become less the Pollyanna as she began to model herself after role-model Murphy.

The show would go on, and FYI would see several changes in on- and off-camera staff: Peter Hunt, McGovern and Miller Redfield would temporarily join the regulars at the anchor desk. The network would move FYI to a new studio with a trendy exterior "Window on America". A significant story-arc would see the network squelch an FYI expose on the tobacco industry, leading to the resignation of first Dial, then the remainder of the cast. They would all go to work reorganizing the poorly-performing news division of a fledging network. In the end, Miles would face down the network; the "suits" relented, the staffers returned and the story aired. For his courage in standing up to the network brass, Miles would be promoted to the news division's headquarters in New York—to the detriment of his new marriage to Corky.

Shaud left the series in 1996, and was replaced by Lily Tomlin as executive producer Kay Carter-Shepley for the show's final two seasons. Kay proved that she had just as little journalistic experience as Miles Silverberg when he started with the show; the only experience Kay had in television—in spite of her venerable connections—was producing daytime game shows. Where Murphy had terrorized the younger Miles, the Machiavellian Kay often emerged victorious in her dealings with Murphy.

In the show's final season, a year-long story arc aired in which Murphy battled breast cancer. The show's handling of the subject was credited with a 30 percent increase in the number of women getting mammograms. The storyline was not without controversy; an episode in which she used medical marijuana to relieve side effects of chemotherapy was attacked by conservative groups, and a women's health group protested an episode in which Murphy, while shopping for prosthetic breasts, uttered the line "Should I go with Demi Moore or Elsie the Cow?"

However, Bergen was presented an award from the American Cancer Society in honor of her role in educating women on the importance of breast cancer prevention and screening.^[13]

In the show's final episode, Murphy met and interviewed God (played by Alan King) and Edward R. Murrow in a dream while undergoing surgery. Computer editing was used to insert footage of the real Murrow, who died in 1965, into the show. Diane English, who created the show, made a cameo appearance as a nurse who delivered the results to Murphy after her surgery. At the end of the episode, Murphy walks through her house seemingly alone, only to have Eldin appear at the end, offering to "touch-up" her house.

Episodes[link]

Main crew[link]

Main directors[link]

• Peter Bonerz (93 episodes, 1991–1998)
• Barnet Kellman (76 episodes, 1988–1998)
• Lee Shallat Chemel (26 episodes, 1992–1994)
• Joe Regalbuto (20 episodes, 1993–1998)
• Alan Rafkin (11 episodes, 1994–1995)
• Steve Zuckerman (11 episodes, 1997–1998)
• Peter Baldwin (6 episodes, 1991–1992)
• Eric Schotz (2 episodes, 1995)

Writers[link]

• Diane English (Head Writer/showrunner) (110 episodes, 1988–1998)
• Gary Dontzig (24 episodes, 1989–1994)
• Steven Peterman (24 episodes, 1989–1994)
• Tom Palmer (16 episodes, 1990–1997)
• Bill Diamond (16 episodes, 1993–1997)
• Korby Siamis (15 episodes, 1988–1994)
• Norm Gunzenhauser (15 episodes, 1989–1998)
• Rob Bragin (15 episodes, 1993–1997)
• Tom Seeley (14 episodes, 1989–1998)
• Michael Saltzman (13 episodes, 1993–1996)
• Sy Dukane (12 episodes, 1989–1991)
• Denise Moss (12 episodes, 1989–1991)
• Peter Tolan (11 episodes, 1991–1993)
• Michael Patrick King (10 episodes, 1991–1993)
• Joshua Sternin (10 episodes, 1995–1997)
• Jeffrey Ventimilia (10 episodes, 1995–1997)
• Russ Woody (9 episodes, 1988–1998)
• Eileen Heisler (8 episodes, 1993–1995)
• DeAnn Heline (8 episodes, 1993–1995)
• Adam Belanoff

DVD releases[link]

Warner Home Video released the first season of Murphy Brown on DVD in Region 1 on February 8, 2005. Due to low sales and high music costs, no future releases are planned.^[14] Should a surge in sales arise, however, the studio would "happily consider" releasing additional season sets.^[15]

Awards and nominations[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Bergen won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series five times over the course of the series, a record for a television actress in a continuing role. After her fifth Emmy, Bergen voluntarily withdrew her name from the Emmy nominations.

Awards won[link]

Emmy Awards:

• Outstanding Comedy Series (1990, 1992)
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series – Candice Bergen (1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995)
• Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series – Diane English (1989)
• Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series – Colleen Dewhurst (1989, 1991)
• Outstanding Editing for a Series – Multi-Camera Production – Tucker Wiard (1989)
• Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series – Jay Thomas (1990, 1991)
• Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series – Gary Dontzig & Steven Peterman (1990)
• Outstanding Costume Design for a Series – Bill Hargate (1991)
• Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing in a Comedy Series – Barnet Kellman (1991)
• Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series – Martin Sheen (1992)

Golden Globe Awards:

• Best TV Series-Comedy/Musical (1992) 1 win
• Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series-Comedy Candice Bergen (1989, 1992) 2 wins

Awards nominated[link]

Emmy Awards:

• Outstanding Comedy Series (1989, 1991, 1993) 3 nominations
• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Candice Bergen (1991, 1993) 2 nominations
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Faith Ford (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994) 5 nominations
• Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Jay Thomas (1992)
• Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Charles Kimbrough (1990)
• Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Joe Regalbuto (1989)

Golden Globe Awards:

• Best TV Series-Comedy/Musical (1989, 1991–1993) 4 nominations
• Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series-Comedy Candice Bergen (1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996) 6 nominations
• Best Supporting Actress on TV Faith Ford (1991, 1992) 2 nominations

Screen Actors Guild:

• Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Comedy Series (1995)
• Outstanding Female Actor in a Comedy Series Candice Bergen (1995, 1996)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Murphy Brown at the Internet Movie Database
• Murphy Brown at TV.com
• "Reflections on Urban America" (Dan Quayle's Murphy Brown speech) available in the Commonwealth Club of California records at the Hoover Institution Archives.

Diane English
English with Murphy Brown star Candice Bergen and a fan at the 1991 Emmy Awards
Born	(1948-05-18) May 18, 1948 (age 64) Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Director, writer and producer
Spouse	Joel Shukovsky (1977-present)

Diane English (born May 18, 1948) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer, known for creating the sitcom Murphy Brown. She also served as writer and executive producer of the sitcom My Sister Sam.

Life and career[link]

English was born in Buffalo, New York, the daughter of Anne and Richard English, who was an electrical engineer.^[1] She graduated from Nardin Academy in Buffalo, New York, and then from Buffalo State College in 1970.

In 1986, she became the executive producer of the Pam Dawber sitcom My Sister Sam, which ran for two seasons on CBS and co-starred Rebecca Schaeffer. In 1988, she created the CBS television series Murphy Brown, for which she won one Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series and two for Outstanding Comedy Series. In 1992, English stirred up controversy when the title character of Murphy Brown decided to have a child out of wedlock. Vice President Dan Quayle strongly voiced his disapproval of this decision, opining that English was mocking the importance of a father's role in the rearing of a child. Quayle was also joined in his protest by English's brother Richard English, who is a Baptist preacher in Western New York. Several years later, President Bill Clinton stated that Quayle made some valid points in his remarks.

In 1991, while driving English to the airport, her husband failed to yield to pedestrian Alice Fiondella who was legally crossing in a marked crosswalk, running her down and killing her.

English later created the comedy series Love & War, first with Susan Dey and then with Annie Potts, which ran from 1992 to 1995 on CBS.

In 2007, English began shooting The Women, her feature film directorial debut. The comedy, which is a remake of the 1939 George Cukor film of the same name, stars Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes, and Annette Bening, and was released in 2008, to mostly negative reviews, although tripling its budget worldwide.^[2]

In 2008, English and the ensemble cast of The Women were honored with the Women in Film Crystal award.^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Diane English at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article related to television in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e