Anne Beatts (February 25, 1947 – April 7, 2021) was an American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

writer.

Early life

Beatts was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, to Sheila Elizabeth Jean (Sherriff-Scott) and Patrick Murray Threipland Beatts. She has described her parents as "

beatniks Beatniks were members of a social movement in the 1950s that subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle. History In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the under ...

." Beatts had what has been called an "aggressive, dark sensibility." Growing up in

Somers, New York Somers is a town located in northern Westchester County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 20,434. The nearby Metro-North Commuter Railroad provides service to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan with a ...

, she later attended

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. It was at McGill University where Beatts discovered the

dark humor Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

writers

J. D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger (; January 1, 1919 January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel ''The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger got his start in 1940, before serving in World War II, by publishing several short stories in '' ...

Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...

, and

Bruce Jay Friedman The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been a ...

. At this time, Beatts converted to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

''National Lampoon''

After graduating from college, Beatts wrote for

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

and ''National Lampoon'' magazine, a national offshoot of the ''

Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...

''. She co-wrote a parody advertisement for

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

, conceived by Philip Socci, for which the magazine was later sued by the car company. The advertisement stated, "If

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

drove a Volkswagen, he'd be President today," accompanied by a photograph of a

VW Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

floating on a lake (an allusion to Kennedy's Chappaquiddick incident). During Beatts' time at ''National Lampoon'' magazine, she worked with

Michael O'Donoghue Michael O'Donoghue (January 5, 1940 – November 8, 1994) was an American writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to ''National Lampoon'' magazine, and was the ...

. The two became romantically involved, and both joined the creative team of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' in the early years of the program.

Television

At ''SNL'', she was nominated for an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

five times, winning once. Beatts created the 1982 CBS sitcom ''

Square Pegs ''Square Pegs'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS during the 1982–1983 season. The series follows Patty Greene (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Lauren Hutchinson ( Amy Linker), two awkward teenage girls desperate to fit in at Weemawee High S ...

'' starring a young Sarah Jessica Parker and Jami Gertz, and additionally appeared in uncredited guest spots on the early ''SNL''. For ''Square Pegs'', Beatts hired a staff of five women writers, believing they would be best able to voice the experiences of a teenage girl, but the network compelled her to include a male writer,

Andy Borowitz Andy Borowitz (born January 4, 1958) is an American writer, comedian, satirist, and actor. Borowitz is a ''The New York Times''-bestselling author who won the first National Press Club award for humor. He is known for creating the NBC sitcom ''Th ...

, to connect with a broader audience. Beatts wrote the book for the 1985

Ellie Greenwich Eleanor Louise Greenwich (October 23, 1940 – August 26, 2009) was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Be My Baby", "Maybe I Know", " Then He Kissed Me", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" ...

jukebox musical A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known popular music songs, rather than original music. Some jukebox musicals use a wide variety of songs, while others confine themselves to songs perfo ...

Leader of the Pack "Leader of the Pack" is a song written by George "Shadow" Morton, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich. It was a number one pop hit in 1964 for the American girl group the Shangri-Las. The single is one of the group's best known songs as well as a ...

.'' Starting in 1987, she produced the first season of ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class African- ...

'' spinoff ''

A Different World ''A Different World'' is an American sitcom (and a spin-off of ''The Cosby Show'') television series that aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987 to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable ( Lisa Bonet) an ...

''. In

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

she won a Writers Guild Award for Best Comedy/Variety show for her part in writing the ''Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special''. In 2006, she directed the series ''

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his Cinema of Transgression, transgressive cult films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), ''Pink Flamin ...

Presents Movies That Will Corrupt You'' with her writing and producing partner, Eve Brandstein for B-Girls Productions. In 2007, Beatts served as one of the judges for the online comedy competition ''Project Breakout''. Beatts served as

Adjunct Professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...

in the Writing Division at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

's School of Cinematic Arts, as well as at

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...

Dodge College of Film and Media Arts Dodge College of Film and Media Arts is one of ten schools constituting Chapman University, located in Orange, California, south of Los Angeles. The school offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, with programs in film production, screenwriting ...

. She also gave private lessons on writing sketch comedy.

Credits

*'' National Lampoon'' (Magazine) *''

National Lampoon's Lemmings ''National Lampoon: Lemmings'', a spinoff of the humor magazine '' National Lampoon,'' was a 1973 stage show that helped launch the performing careers of John Belushi, Christopher Guest, and Chevy Chase. The show was co-written and co-directed by ...

'' (with Sean Kelly,

Tony Hendra Anthony Christopher "Tony" Hendra (10 July 1941 – 4 March 2021) was an English satirist, actor and writer who worked mostly in the United States. Educated at St Albans School (where he was a classmate of Stephen Hawking) and at St John's Col ...

Christopher Guest Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born February 5, 1948) is an American-British screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian. Guest is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed, and starred in ...

, and Paul Jacobs) (1973) (Stage Show) *'' Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle'' (with

) (1975) (Adaptation) *''National Lampoon: A Dirty Book'' (1976) (Book) *''

'' (1975–1979) (TV) *''Titters: The First Collection of Humor by Women'' (with Deanne Stillman) (1976) *''

Gilda Live ''Gilda Live'' is a 1980 American comedy documentary film starring Gilda Radner, directed by Mike Nichols and produced by Lorne Michaels. Radner and Michaels and all of the writers involved with the production were alumni from the television progr ...

'' (with

Gilda Radner Gilda Susan Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989) was an American actress and comedian, and one of the seven original cast members of the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). In he ...

Alan Zweibel Alan Zweibel (born May 20, 1950) is an American television writer, author, playwright, and screenwriter whom ''The'' ''New York Times'' says has “earned a place in the pantheon of American pop culture." An original ''Saturday Night Live'' ...

Don Novello Donald Andrew Novello (born January 1, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, singer, writer, film director and producer. He is best known for his work on NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1978 to 1980, and again from 1985 to 1986, often as the ...

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...

Marilyn Suzanne Miller Marilyn Suzanne Miller (born January 3, 1950) is an American television writer and producer. She was one of only three female writers on the original staff of ''Saturday Night Live'' and was also a writer for such 1970s sitcoms as ''The Odd Coupl ...

Paul Shaffer Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian singer, composer, actor, author, comedian, and multi-instrumentalist who served as David Letterman's musical director, band leader, and sidekick on the entire run of both '' Late ...

, and

Rosie Shuster Rosie Shuster (born June 19, 1950) is a Canadian-born comedy writer and actress. She was a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'' during the 1970s and 1980s. Biography Shuster was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to Ruth (''née'' Burstyn), an inte ...

) (1980) (Stage Show) *''

'' (1982–1983) (TV) *''Titters 101'' (with Deanne Stillman and Judith Jacklin Belushi) (1984) (Book) *''

'' (1985) (Stage Show) * “The Mom Book” (with Judith Victoria Jacklin elushiand Deanne Stillman (1986) (Book) *''

'' (1987–1988) (TV) (Producer only) *''

Faerie Tale Theatre Faerie Tale Theatre (also known as Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre) is an American live-action fairytale fantasy drama anthology television series of 27 episodes, that originally aired on Showtime from September 11, 1982 until November 14, 19 ...

'' (1987) (TV) *''The Belles of Bleeker Street'' (1991) (TV) *''

Murphy Brown ''Murphy Brown'' is an American television sitcom created by Diane English that premiered on November 14, 1988, on CBS. The series stars Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for ''FYI'', a ...

'' (1991) (TV) *''The Elvira Show'' (1993) (TV) *''

The Stephanie Miller Show ''The Stephanie Miller Show'' is a syndicated progressive talk radio program that discusses politics, current events, and pop culture using a fast-paced, impromptu, comedic style. The three-hour show is hosted by Stephanie Miller and is syndicat ...

'' (1995) (TV) *'' Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child'' (2000) (TV) *''Hollywood Off-Ramp'' (2000) (TV) *''56th Annual Writers' Guild Awards'' (2004) (TV)

Media portrayals

Beatts was portrayed by

Natasha Lyonne Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein ( ; born April 4, 1979) is an American actress, director, writer, and producer. She is known for playing Nicky Nichols on the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she r ...

in the 2018

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

film ''

A Futile and Stupid Gesture ''A Futile and Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever'' is an American book by Josh Karp that was published in 2006. It is a history of ''National Lampoon'' magazine and one of its three founders, Doug Kenne ...

''. She was profiled in the January 6, 2020, issue of ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

''.

Death

Beatts died at age 74 on April 7, 2021, at her home in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

. She is survived by her daughter, Jaylene Beatts.

References

External links

* * * *"Interview with Anne Beatts"
Part One
and

''Maximum Fun''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Beatts, Anne 1947 births American humorists American magazine editors American women screenwriters Screenwriters from New York (state) American television writers Converts to Judaism Emmy Award winners 2021 deaths Writers from Buffalo, New York American women television writers Place of birth missing National Lampoon people Women humorists American women non-fiction writers Women magazine editors 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women American people of Scottish descent American people of Canadian descent