Ken Finkleman (born 1946) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

television and

film 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. T ...

and producer, actor, and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

Biography

Finkleman was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. In Canada, Finkleman is best known as the writer, creator and producer of the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

series '' The Newsroom'', in which he starred as television news producer George Findlay. He later produced a number of other series for Canadian television as well, including '' Married Life'', '' Foolish Heart'', '' Foreign Objects'', ''

More Tears ''More Tears'' (1998) is a seriocomedy television series that was broadcast by CBC Television, as a short run programme; it was written and produced by Ken Finkleman following the success of '' The Newsroom'' (1996), and was partly a remake of ' ...

'', ''

Good Dog ''Good Dog'' is a Canadian television comedy-drama series which aired for one season on HBO Canada. The show follows the life of character George Findlay, a role that Ken Finkleman reprised from '' The Newsroom''. Overview George Findlay (Finkl ...

'', and '' Good God''. Each of these series also included the linking character George Findlay (or the nearly identical character George Britton in the first series, ''Married Life''). Finkleman describes Findlay as his vehicle for exploring issues that both intrigue him and tick him off."The Six Faces of George"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', March 4, 2011. His 2006 series '' At the Hotel'' was his only television project to date not to include the linking character. He began his career doing radio and TV work at the CBC, teaming up with

Rick Moranis Frederick Allan Moranis (; born April 18, 1953) is a Canadian actor, comedian, musician, songwriter, writer and producer. He appeared in the sketch comedy series ''Second City Television'' (''SCTV'') in the 1980s and several Hollywood (film indu ...

, then a Toronto DJ. The two of them performed in a series of live performances on CBC's ''

90 Minutes Live ''90 Minutes Live'' was a Canadian television late-night talk show, which aired on CBC Television from April 19, 1976, to May 12, 1978. The program aired weekday evenings at 11:30 p.m. Hosted by Peter Gzowski, the program was patterned aft ...

'', comedy radio specials and television comedy pilots including one called ''Midweek'' and one called ''1980'' (produced at CBC Toronto in 1979). Both pilots starred Finkleman and Moranis in a series of irreverent sketches including an early mockumentary sketch featuring Moranis as a Canadian movie producer and another featuring the dubbed in voiced overs of Nazi war criminals as they appear to be discussing their Hollywood agents and the money one can earn being interviewed on major documentary series like ''The World At War''. In 1982, Finkleman was tasked with writing two sequels to blockbuster films for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, ''

Grease 2 ''Grease 2'' is a 1982 American musical romantic comedy film and the sequel to the 1978 film ''Grease'', adapted from the 1971 musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Originally titled ''More Grease'', the film was produced b ...

'' and '' Airplane II: The Sequel'' (also directing the latter), after the creative teams behind the original films declined to take part. Finkleman was given much larger budgets than his predecessors were, but both films, while still earning a profit, underperformed at the box office and were unfavourably reviewed by film critics. His television productions are seen, in part, as a reaction to his experiences in the mainstream Hollywood

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

system. Finkleman also wrote the 2010 novel ''Noah's Turn.'' His brother,

Danny Finkleman Danny Finkleman (born 1942) is a Canadian journalist and radio host, best known for his work on CBC Radio. He was host of '' Finkleman's 45s'' from 1985 until 2005, when he retired from CBC. From October 12, 2013, to July 1, 2014 he hosted a we ...

, is a longtime radio personality on

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of Ca ...

, who retired as host of '' Finkleman's 45s'' in 2005. Finkleman and his former wife Marion L. Cohen, a judge of the

Ontario Court of Justice The Ontario Court of Justice is the provincial court of record for the Canadian province of Ontario. The court sits at more than 200 locations across the province and oversees matters relating to family law, criminal law, and provincial offences. ...

, have two children.

Filmography

Films

*''

'' (1982) *'' Airplane II: The Sequel'' (1982) (also director) *''

Head Office Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top ...

'' (1985) (also director) *''

Who's That Girl Who's That Girl? may refer to: Film and television * ''Who's That Girl'' (1987 film), an American film starring Madonna * ''Who's That Girl'', a Philippine film of 2011 * "Who's That Girl?", an episode of ''Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!'' Music * Who's Tha ...

'' (1987) *'' An American Dream: The Education of William Bowman'' (2016) (also director)

Television

*''

Van Dyke and Company ''Van Dyke and Company'' is an American comedy and variety show television series hosted by Dick Van Dyke on NBC in 1976. Andy Kaufman made his prime time debut on the show and became a series regular. The executive producer of the show, Byron Pau ...

'' (1976) (TV) *1980 (pilot -1979) *'' Married Life'' (1995) *'' The Newsroom'' (1996–2005) *''

'' (1998) *'' Foolish Heart'' (1999) *'' Foreign Objects'' (2001) *'' At the Hotel'' (2006) *''

'' (2011) *'' Good God'' (2012)

References

External links

*
Ken Finkleman talks ''Good God''
from CriticizeThis.ca {{DEFAULTSORT:Finkleman, Ken 1946 births Living people Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian film producers Canadian male screenwriters Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian comedy writers Canadian television writers Film directors from Winnipeg Male actors from Winnipeg Writers from Winnipeg Jewish Canadian male actors Jewish Canadian writers Canadian male television writers Comedy film directors Jewish Canadian filmmakers 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Canadian Comedy Award winners Television show creators Canadian male novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists