Bradley Phillip Bell (born June 29, 1964) is 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. ...

and producer. Bell is an eight-time

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

winner and is

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

and

head writer A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits. In fictional comedy o ...

for ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...

'', an American

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Early life and education

Bradley Bell was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, the son of

William J. Bell William Joseph Bell (March 6, 1927 – April 29, 2005) was an American screenwriter and television producer, best known as the creator of the soap operas '' Another World'', ''The Young and the Restless'' and ''The Bold and the Beautiful''. Ea ...

and

Lee Phillip Bell Loreley "Lee" June Phillip Bell (June 10, 1928 – February 25, 2020) was an American talk show host and soap opera creator. During her career on Chicago television, she hosted over 10,000 programs and, early in her tenure, worked five shows a da ...

. Bell's parents co-created the soap operas ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

'' and ''The Bold and the Beautiful''. His mother was also an

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 broadcast journalist and talk show personality. Bell graduated from the

Latin School of Chicago Latin School of Chicago is a selective private elementary, middle, and high school located in the Gold Coast neighborhood on the Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The school was founded in 1888 by Mabel Slade Vickery. Latin S ...

before attending the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sys ...

and the

University of Wisconsin at Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

. He concluded his studies at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

where he majored in television production before going on to join the writing staff of ''

''.

Career

In 1987, Bell contributed to the creation and launch of ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', currently the world's most popular daytime television soap opera with more than 45 broadcasters in over 110 countries, according to the

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

. Bell was promoted to associate producer in 1989 and again to supervising producer in 1992. He has been the head writer and

of the show since 1993 and 1995 respectively.

Awards

It wasn’t until 2000 that Bradley Bell received his first Daytime

nomination. By 2015, he has been awarded with Emmys for his writing in 2010, 2013, 2015 amongst 11 nominations (2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015) and took home three statuettes for helming the Best Drama Series in a record three consecutive years in 2009, 2010, 2011 amongst 9 nominations (2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015) in addition to two Emmy wins in other categories (new approaches and music composition). On January 14, 2015

CBS Television City Television City, alternatively CBS Television City, is an American television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of Fairfax Avenue. Designed by architect William Pereira and Ch ...

, celebrating 7000 episodes of The Bold and The Beautiful, dedicated Studio 31 to Bell in honor of his work since the first day of the series.

Personal life

Bell married Colleen Bell (née Bradley) in October 1991 and they have 4 children. They live in

Holmby Hills Holmby Hills is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. The neighborhood was developed in the early twentieth century by the Janss Investment Company, which developed the rest of Westwood as well as other Los Ang ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. According to the

Center for Investigative Reporting The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) is a nonprofit news organization based in Emeryville, California. It was founded in 1977 as the nation’s first nonprofit investigative journalism organization, and has since grown into a multi-plat ...

, Bradley and Colleen Bell use "at least 2 million" gallons of water per year to irrigate their personal estate. Bell's sister,

Lauralee Bell Lauralee Kristen Bell (born December 22, 1968) is an American soap opera actress. She was born in Chicago, Illinois, and attended The Latin School of Chicago. The only daughter of soap opera creators William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, and sis ...

is an actress best known for her role as

Christine Blair Christine Blair is a fictional character from ''The Young and the Restless'', an American soap opera on the CBS network, portrayed by Lauralee Bell, the daughter of series creators William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell. "Cricket" (as the character ...

on ''

'' and ''

''. Bell also has an older brother,

, the president of Bell Dramatic Serial Company and Bell-Phillip Television Productions, Inc.

Head writer

Executive producer

References

External links

* *
Bradley Bell
on TV.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Bradley American soap opera writers 1964 births Latin School of Chicago alumni Living people Soap opera producers People from Holmby Hills, Los Angeles