Ann Donahue is a prominent

television writer A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. She along with

Carol Mendelsohn Carol Mendelsohn (born 1951) is an American television producer, showrunner, and screenwriter, known for her work on the crime drama ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''. Education Mendelsohn grew up in Chicago, where her father was an attorney. ...

and

Anthony E. Zuiker Anthony E. Zuiker (pronounced ; born August 17, 1968) is an American television writer, television producer, and author. He is best known as the creator of ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''. He produced all four editions of the ''CSI'' franc ...

created the successful ''CSI'' franchise which includes ''

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...

'', ''

CSI: Miami ''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Dete ...

'', ''

CSI: NY ''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...

'', and '' CSI: Cyber''.

Biography

Donahue's father was a pharmaceutical salesman, and she was raised in Cleveland and Cincinnati. She has five siblings. Writing for TV and film was an early ambition for her. She attended Ohio State University but left to get married and move to Los Angeles. After moving, she was a legal assistant by day and wrote at night. Her work gained notice when her 1985 play, ''Home Fires'', received the Los Angeles County Cultural Award after being produced locally. That recognition led to her being hired to write scripts for films and TV and to producing TV programs. She served as the showrunner for ''CSI: Miami'' until May 2012 when

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

cancelled the show. New long-term contracts in the fall of 2003 made Donahue and Mendelsohn "the two highest-paid female writers in television drama." Donahue's television credits include

Emmy Award 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 ...

-winning scripts for the popular series ''

Picket Fences ''Picket Fences'' is an American family drama television series about the residents of the town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show initially ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on the CBS televisio ...

''. Other television writing credits include ''

China Beach ''China Beach'' is an American war drama television series set at an evacuation hospital during the Vietnam War. The title refers to My Khe beach in the city of Đà Nẵng, Vietnam, nicknamed "China Beach" in English by American and Australia ...

'', ''

21 Jump Street ''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural television series that aired on the Fox network and in first run syndication from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focuses on a squad of youthful-loo ...

'', '' Murder One'', '' M.Y.O.B.'', ''

High Incident ''High Incident'' was a police drama television series produced by DreamWorks Television for the ABC network. The show was created by Steven Spielberg, Michael Pavone, Eric Bogosian, and Dave Alan Johnson. It aired from March 4, 1996, to May 8, ...

'', and ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran fo ...

''. Donahue has also written and produced a number of

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

plays. Donahue is an out

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

.Curve Magazine, "Take That! TV's Top 10 "Lesbian" Crime-Fighter Shows", Volume 13, Number 4

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donahue, Ann American television writers American women television writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) American lesbian writers Showrunners 20th-century American women writers American women television producers American women television directors American television directors 21st-century LGBT people 21st-century American women writers LGBT screenwriters