John Jerome Strauss (born May 12, 1957) is an American producer and writer of film and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

. He has written and produced for the television series ''

Boy Meets World ''Boy Meets World'' is an American coming-of-age sitcom created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that aired on ABC for seven seasons between September1993 and May2000. The series centers on Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his friends and famil ...

'' (and known as the writer who came up with the character name for

Topanga Lawrence ''Boy Meets World'' is an American television sitcom that chronicles the coming of age events and everyday life-lessons of Cory Matthews (Ben Savage). The show aired from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the network's TGIF lineup for seven seasons. ...

, naming her after

Topanga Canyon Topanga () (Tongva: ''Topaa'nga'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow s ...

), '' Me and the Boys'' and ''

Odd Man Out ''Odd Man Out'' is a 1947 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, and starring James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, and Kathleen Ryan. Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it follows a wounded Nationalist leader who attempts to evade polic ...

''. He has also written several episodes of the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

series ''

Mozart in the Jungle ''Mozart in the Jungle'' is an American comedy-drama streaming television series developed by Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, Alex Timbers, and Paul Weitz for the video-on-demand service Amazon Prime Video. It received a production order in M ...

'', which received a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

nomination for "Best TV Series Comedy" in 2015. He is an executive producer for ''The Breaks''. Since 1998, Strauss has mainly focused on films, co-writing the screenplays for ''

There's Something About Mary ''There's Something About Mary'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly. It stars Cameron Diaz as the title character with Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon, Lee Evans, and Chris Elliott all playing men who ...

'' (1998), '' Head Over Heels'' (2001), ''

The Santa Clause 2 ''The Santa Clause 2'' is a 2002 American Christmas comedy film directed by Michael Lembeck in his directorial debut. It is a sequel to ''The Santa Clause'' (1994) and the second installment in ''The Santa Clause'' franchise. All of the principal ...

'', ''

The Lizzie McGuire Movie ''The Lizzie McGuire Movie'' is a 2003 American Teen film, teen comedy film directed by Jim Fall. The film serves as the finale of the Disney Channel Lizzie McGuire, television series of the same name, and was the first theatrical film based on ...

'' (2003), '' Rebound'' (2005), ''

The Wild ''The Wild'' is a 2006 American computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by animator Steve "Spaz" Williams and written by Ed Decter, John J. Strauss, Mark Gibson and Philip Halprin. It features the voices of Eddie Izzard, Kiefer Sutherla ...

'' (2006), '' The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause'' (2006), ''

You Again ''You Again'' is a 2010 American comedy film produced by John J. Strauss and Eric Tannenbaum and directed by Andy Fickman with music by Nathan Wang and written by Moe Jelline. The film stars Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Odett ...

'' (2010). and ''

Free Birds ''Free Birds'' is a 2013 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film. The film follows two turkeys travelling back in time to the first Thanksgiving to get turkey off the menu. It was produced by Reel FX Creative Studios as its firs ...

'' (2013). He famously cast Eric the Actor in an episode of the TV show “In Plain Sight”, with Eric playing a disgruntled midget landlord during a story involving the FBI investigating a hoarder. Eric ad-libbed the line “Keys, woman” when the script called for him to hold the keys himself - something his disability made difficult due to his deformed hands. He frequently collaborates with fellow producer and writer

Ed Decter Edward Ichabod "Ed" Decter (born May 19, 1959) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Early life and education Born in West Orange, New Jersey, Decter graduated from Wesleyan University in 1979. Career His credits include, ...

. He, along with Decter replaced Barry Kemp as showrunner of the CBS Tom Selleck comedy ''

The Closer ''The Closer'' is an Television in the United States, American television police procedural starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department Chief of police#United States, deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator o ...

'', which eventually came out in 1998. Strauss is also a graduate of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and

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 ...

, where he received a BFA degree in Motion Picture (Film) and TV.

References

External links

* 1957 births American film producers American male screenwriters American television writers American television producers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American male television writers {{US-screen-writer-stub