Alan James Coleman (28 December 1936 – 10 December 2013) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-born TV series writer, director and producer, primarily in the southern hemisphere, where he worked on soap operas ''

The Young Doctors ''The Young Doctors'' is an Australian early-evening soap opera originally broadcast on the Nine Network and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation, it aired from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March 1983. The series is prima ...

'' (which he also created), ''

The Restless Years ''The Restless Years'' is an Australian soap opera which followed the lives of several Sydney school-leavers and the drama and relationships faced by young adults. It was created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation for N ...

'', '' Punishment'', '' Breakers, '' Neighbours'' and ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

''. Earlier he was the head of children's programming at ATV in the UK until emigrating to Australia in 1974. In 1997, he directed several episodes of the British soap opera, ''

Family Affairs ''Family Affairs'' is a British soap opera that aired on Channel 5. It debuted on 30 March 1997, the day of the launch of said channel and was the first programme broadcast on the channel. It was screened as five thirty-minute episodes per w ...

'' as a part of a working holiday in the UK. At one point, he also temporarily parted company with the

Reg Grundy Reginald Roy Grundy (4 August 1923 – 6 May 2016) was an Australian entrepreneur and media mogul, best known for his numerous television productions. He was the producer of various Australian game shows, such as '' Blankety Blanks'' (based on ...

production stable to establish his own company, which provided television coverage of major sporting events. Before going behind the camera, he originally worked as an actor and is on record as saying that "you cannot be a good director unless you have acted yourself". Coleman's autobiography, ''One Door Shuts'', was self-published through Trafford Publishing in 2009.

Personal life

Coleman was married to Barbara (deceased). He had three children; Nick, Chris (deceased) and Jacqui. Coleman died on 10 December 2013 on the Central Coast in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. His agent, Darren Gray, stated "Alan was a very special man. He launched so many careers both in front of and behind the camera, was behind so many hit shows and gave pleasure through his work to audiences around the world. He pioneered the art form viewers refer to as the soap opera but to him the shows were always five nights a week, fast turn-around drama serials."

Honour

In 2008, Coleman was presented with the inaugural "Lifetime Achievement Award" for his outstanding contribution to the 'soap opera' industry at The Soap Shows- Aussie Soap Awards.Alan Coleman wins Lifetime Achievement Award

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Alan 1936 births 2013 deaths Australian soap opera writers English screenwriters English male screenwriters English soap opera writers British male television writers Australian male television writers