John Frederick Bowman (September 28, 1957 – December 28, 2021) was an American television writer and producer. He wrote for ''

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 ...

'', ''The Show'', and ''

In Living Color ''In Living Color'' is an American sketch comedy television series that originally ran on Fox from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Keenen Ivory Wayans created, wrote and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in a ...

''. He also co-created the hit series ''

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

'', and worked as the

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 ''

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 ...

''. Bowman won a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

for ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1989. He nominated for two more, for ''In Living Color'', in 1991 and 1992.

Early life and career

Bowman was born on September 28, 1957, in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. He attended

Whitefish Bay High School Whitefish Bay High School is a comprehensive public secondary school located in the village of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, United States. Enrollment is 947 students, in grades 9 through 12. The school newspaper, the ''Tower Times'', and the school ...

. While attending

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, he was an editor 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 ...

''. After graduating from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

in 1985, he worked as a junior executive at

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

. In 1988, he and his wife, Shannon Gaughan, were hired as staff writers on ''Saturday Night Live''. Bowman served as head of the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Guil ...

negotiating committee during the 2007–08 writers' strike. He later taught comedy writing at the

USC School of Cinematic Arts The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...

Personal life and death

Bowman married Shannon Gaughan in 1982. They met while working on ''The Harvard Lampoon''. They had five children. He died from

dilated cardiomyopathy Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a condition in which the heart becomes enlarged and cannot pump blood effectively. Symptoms vary from none to feeling tired, leg swelling, and shortness of breath. It may also result in chest pain or fainting. Co ...

on December 28, 2021, at his home in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, at the age of 64.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowman, John 1957 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters American comedy writers American male screenwriters American male television writers American television producers American television writers Deaths from cardiomyopathy Harvard Business School alumni Harvard College alumni The Harvard Lampoon alumni PepsiCo people Primetime Emmy Award winners Screenwriters from Wisconsin Showrunners USC School of Cinematic Arts faculty Whitefish Bay High School alumni Writers from Milwaukee