Barbara Avedon (June 14, 1925 – August 31, 1994) was an American

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. ...

, political

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

, and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

. She founded the anti-war organization

Another Mother for Peace Another Mother for Peace (AMP) is a grass-roots anti-war advocacy group founded in 1967 in opposition to the U.S. war in Vietnam. The association is "dedicated to eliminating the use of war as a means of solving disputes among nations, people and ...

Biography

She was one of the writers for the television series ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...

'', and helped a group of Jefferson High School students write the episode "

Sisters at Heart "Sisters at Heart" is the thirteenth episode of the seventh season, and 213th episode overall, of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) fantasy television sitcom ''Bewitched''. This Christmas episode aired on ABC on December 24, 1970, and again ...

". She also wrote for ''

Executive Suite An executive suite in its most general definition is a collection of offices or rooms—or suite—used by top managers of a business—or executives. Over the years, this general term has taken on a variety of specific meanings. Corporate off ...

'' and ''

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

'', a 1977-78 spin-off from ''

Barney Miller ''Barney Miller'' is an American sitcom television series set in a New York City Police Department police station on East 6th St in Greenwich Village. The series was broadcast on ABC Network from January 23, 1975, to May 20, 1982. It was created ...

''. With

Barbara Corday Barbara Corday (born October 15, 1944) is an American television executive, writer and producer known for co-creating the television series ''Cagney & Lacey''. Early life and education Corday was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York Ci ...

, Avedon created ''

Cagney & Lacey ''Cagney & Lacey'' is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very dif ...

'', the world's first

dramatic television series In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms t ...

to place women in both of its starring roles. They came up with the idea for this television series after having read

Molly Haskell Molly Clark Haskell (born September 29, 1939)Aitken, Ian, ed. (2006)''Encyclopedia of Documentary Film, Volume 2'' New York: Routledge. p. 541. . is an American feminist film critic and author. She contributed to ''The Village Voice''—firs ...

's book ''

From Reverence to Rape ''From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies'' is a 1974 book (revised and reissued in 1987 and 2016) by feminist film critic Molly Haskell (born 1939). It was one of the first books to chronicle women's images in film. Along w ...

'' which stated that there had never been a female

buddy film The buddy film is a subgenre of adventure and comedy film in which two people are put together and are on an adventure, a quest, or a road trip. The two often contrast in personality, which creates a dynamic onscreen different from a pairing of ...

. Avedon and Corday initially intended ''Cagney & Lacey'' to be a film. While they were writing the series together, Avedon was more experienced and proficient in screenwriting than Corday, and Avedon mentored Corday in this area throughout the series. They were best friends for nearly a decade.

Personal life

Avedon married twice. Her first husband was Phil Sharp; they remained married until his death.The Independent: "Obituary: Barbara Avedon" by Anthony Hayward
9 September 1994 Her second husband was Mel Avedon; they had one child before the marriage was dissolved. Her son Joshua is a co-founder of

Jumpstart ''JumpStart'' (known as ''Jump Ahead'' in the United Kingdom) is an educational media franchise for children, consisting mostly of educational games, produced by JumpStart Games. The series originally consisted of a series of educational PC gam ...

, a not-for-profit that focuses on transforming the broader Jewish community through spirituality, learning, social activism, and culture, and the Jewish congregation IKAR.Paideia - The European Institute for Jewish Studies: "Project-Incubator Staff"
retrieved October 24, 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avedon, Barbara 1925 births 1994 deaths American television writers American women television writers American feminist writers 20th-century American women writers American women screenwriters 20th-century American screenwriters Screenwriters from New York (state) Writers from New York City