Charlotte Sue Brown (born October 20, 1943) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

television producer, writer, director, and showrunner who in 1977 was acclaimed to have become the first woman

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

of a primetime network television series for her work on ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Moor ...

'' spin-off ''

Rhoda ''Rhoda'' is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns starring Valerie Harper that originally aired on CBS for five seasons from September 9, 1974, to December 9, 1978. It was the first spin-off of ''The Mary Tyle ...

''. However,

Gertrude Berg Gertrude Berg (Born Tillie Edelstein; October 3, 1899 – September 14, 1966) was an American actress, screenwriter, and producer. A pioneer of classic radio, she was one of the first women to create, write, produce, and star in a long-running hi ...

, who created '' The Goldbergs'', earned that title almost two decades earlier.

Early life and education

Brown was born in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, to Jewish parents. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was young. She grew up in the Fairfax and

Pico-Robertson Pico-Robertson is a relatively densely-populated neighborhood in the Westside of Los Angeles, California, flanked on the north, northeast, and west by Beverly Hills, on the east by Carthay and Mid-City, on the south by Mid-City, Beverlywood and ...

neighborhoods in

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 ...

, where her father was a musician and her mother worked in a clerical position at

The May Company The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many ch ...

. Brown graduated from

UCLA 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 ...

with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in English.

Career

Brown's early career began first as a high school teacher,. and then as a junior copywriter at an advertising agency. She wanted to get into the TV industry and managed to meet

James L. Brooks James Lawrence Brooks (born May 9, 1940) is an American director, producer, screenwriter and co-founder of Gracie Films. His television and film work includes ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', ''Taxi'', ''The Simpsons'', '' Broadcast News'', ''As G ...

via her dentist, eventually visiting the set of early episode tapings of ''

''. She gave Brooks a spec script, and was mentored by Brooks, who hired her as a freelance writer. Brown worked on many of

Grant Tinker Grant Almerin Tinker (January 11, 1926 – November 28, 2016) was an American television executive who served as chairman and CEO of NBC from 1981 to 1986. Additionally, he was a co-founder of MTM Enterprises and a television producer. Life ...

s MTM Enterprises shows run by writers

and Allan Burns during the early 1970s – shows like ''

'', ''

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from Se ...

'', ''

Love, American Style ''Love, American Style'' is an anthology comedy television series that aired on ABC from 1969 to 1974. The series was produced by Paramount Television. During the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, it was a part of ABC's Friday primetime lineup ...

'' and ''

The Bob Newhart Show ''The Bob Newhart Show'' is an American sitcom television series produced by MTM Enterprises that aired on CBS from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes over six seasons. Comedian Bob Newhart portrays a psy ...

'' She was part of a universe of women writers that included Pat Nardo,

Gail Parent Gail Parent (born August 12, 1940) is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author. Life and career Parent was born Gail Kostner in New York City, New York, the daughter of Ruth (née Goldberg) and Theodore Kostner, a Wall Street ...

, Susan Silver, and

Treva Silverman Treva Silverman (born May 20, 1936) is an American screenwriter. Career Silverman is best known for her work on the 1970s sitcom ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show''. In the 1960s and 1970s, Silverman also wrote scripts for ''That Girl'', ''The Mo ...

. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was unusual to find a woman inside the writers' room of a primetime network television show other than secretaries and personal assistants. A notable exception was

Madelyn Pugh Madelyn Pugh (March 15, 1921 – April 20, 2011), sometimes credited as Madelyn Pugh Davis, Madelyn Davis, or Madelyn Martin, was a television writer who became known in the 1950s for her work on the ''I Love Lucy'' television series. Early ...

, who wrote for the ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...

'' series. After the success of

, some showrunners began to actively recruit women writers. One of them was

who hired Brown to write an episode of ''

''. Assignments soon followed on ''

The Sandy Duncan Show ''Funny Face'' and ''The Sandy Duncan Show'' are two American sitcoms aired by CBS starring Sandy Duncan as part of its 1971 and 1972 fall lineups, respectively. Both series were created and produced by Carl Kleinschmitt. In the spring of 19 ...

'', ''

'', and ''

''. For many of the series in which she worked, Brown was often the first woman writer that had ever been hired by that particular producer. When Brooks created ''

'', a spin-off of ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show,'' Brown was hired as a staff writer. She quickly rose up the ranks, becoming the program's executive producer in 1977. As a result, Brown became one of the first female showrunners in primetime television history. Brown said that she based the character of Ida Morgenstern, Rhoda's mother, portrayed by actor

Nancy Walker Nancy Walker (born Anna Myrtle Swoyer; May 10, 1922 – March 25, 1992) was an American actress and comedian of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director (lending her talents to ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', on wh ...

, on her own mother. ''

'' ran for 5 seasons before it was canceled. brown went on to direct and write. She created the 1992 tv series, ''

The Powers That Be In idiomatic English, "the powers that be" (sometimes initialized as TPTB) is a phrase used to refer to those individuals or groups who collectively hold authority over a particular domain. Within this phrase, the word ''be'' is an archaic vari ...

'' with

Marta Kauffman Marta Fran Kauffman (born September 21, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. She is best known as the co-creator of the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' with her longtime friend, David Crane. Both Kauffman and Crane were also executive pr ...

and David Crane.

Personal life

In the early 1980s, Brown adopted a daughter.

Awards and recognition

* 1975:

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

, Episodic Comedy for "Parents' Day" episode of ''

'' (nomination) * 1975: '' Ladies’ Home Journal'', Women of the Year Award

Filmography

* 1972: ''

'' (TV series) – writer * 1972: ''

The Doris Day Show ''The Doris Day Show'' is an American sitcom which was originally broadcast on CBS from September 1968 until March 1973, remaining on the air for five seasons and 128 episodes. The series is remembered for its multiple format and cast change ...

'' (TV series) – writer * 1972: ''

'' (TV series) – writer * 1972-1973: ''

'' (TV series) – writer * 1973: '' Needles and Pins'' (TV series) – writer * 1974: ''Mitzi... A Tribute to the American Housewife'' (TV series) – writer * 1974: '' Really Raquel'' (TV series) – writer * 1972-1974: ''

'' (TV series) – writer * 1977: ''Bumpers'' (TV movie) – producer, writer * 1974-1977: ''

'' (TV series) – executive producer director, writer, executive script consultant * 1980: '' The Associates'' (TV series) – director * 1980=1981: ''

Archie Bunker's Place ''Archie Bunker's Place'' is an American television sitcom produced as a continuation of ''All in the Family''. It aired on CBS from September 23, 1979, to April 4, 1983. While not as popular as its predecessor, the show maintained a large enough ...

'' (TV series) – director * 1983: '' It's Not Easy'' (TV series) – director, creative consultant * 1984: ''Second Edition'' (TV movie) – director * 1985: ''Goodbye Charlie'' (TV movie) – director * 1985: ''Letting Go'' (TV movie) – writer * 1985: ''

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 ...

'' (TV series) – director * 1987: ''

The Tortellis ''The Tortellis'' is an American sitcom television series and the first spin-off of '' Cheers'', starring Dan Hedaya and Jean Kasem. It aired on NBC from January 22 to May 12, 1987. Synopsis Hedaya and Kasem had appeared on ''Cheers'' on severa ...

'' (TV series) – director * 1988: ''Real Life'', CBS Summer Playhouse (TV series) – executive producer, director, writer * 1989: '' A Fine Romance'' (TV series) – executive producer * 1997: '' The Good News'' (TV series) – director * 1992: ''

'' (TV series) – executive producer, writer * 1993: '' Almost Home'' (TV series) – executive producer * 1995: ''

Kirk Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk'' ...

'' (TV series) – executive producer * 1998: ''

Veronica's Closet ''Veronica's Closet'' is an American sitcom television series created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, that aired on NBC for three seasons, from September 25, 1997, to December 7, 2000. The show stars Kirstie Alley as Veronica "Ronnie" Chase, ...

'' (TV series) – writer * 1998: '' The Tony Danza Show'' (TV series) – writer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Charlotte 1943 births Television producers from Ohio American women television producers American television writers American women television writers Living people Writers from Cleveland Screenwriters from Ohio 21st-century American women