Rita Lakin (born January 24, 1930) is an American screenwriter, active from around 1962 to 1981. She has credits for 474 produced television scripts spanning 30 productions. She is also a novelist and author of "The Only Woman In The Room," a memoir of her life as one of the first female show runners and one of the first women in television (released October 2015, Applause publishing). In fiction, Lakin created the Gladdy Gold Mystery seven-book series (published by

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...

), including ''Getting Old Is Murder'', ''Getting Old Is The Best Revenge'', and ''Getting Old Can Kill You''. Lakin began writing regularly during the early 1960s for such television shows as '' The Doctors'', ''

Dr. Kildare Dr. James Kildare is a fictional American medical doctor, originally created in the 1930s by the author Frederick Schiller Faust under the pen name Max Brand. Shortly after the character's first appearance in a magazine story, Paramount Pictur ...

'' and '' Peyton Place''. In 1968, she began working as story editor and head writer of ''

The Mod Squad ''The Mod Squad'' is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III as ...

''. In 1972, she created ''

The Rookies ''The Rookies'' is an American police procedural series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It follows the exploits of three rookie police officers working in an unidentified city for the fictitious Southern California Police Department (SC ...

''. In 1977, she served as executive producer of the CBS TV adaptation of the 1954 film ''

Executive Suite An executive suite in its most general definition is a collection of offices or rooms—or suite—used by top managers of a business—or executives. Over the years, this general term has taken on a variety of specific meanings. Corporate offi ...

''. She wrote numerous "Movies of the Week" including ''

Women in Chains ''Women in Chains'' is a 1972 American television film directed by Bernard L. Kowalski for ABC's ''Movie of the Week''. The leading players are Ida Lupino, Belinda Montgomery, Lois Nettleton and Jessica Walter. Plot Parole officer Sandra Parker ...

'', and such miniseries as ''Strong Medicine'' and ''Voices of the Heart''. In 1981, she developed the TV series adaptation and served as show-runner of '' Flamingo Road''. In 1989, she co-created the medical drama '' Nightingales''. She also wrote or co-authored two original theatrical plays, ''No Language But a Cry'' and ''Saturday Night at Grossinger's''.

Awards

Rita Lakin has won nominations and awards for her writing including the

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 ...

, the

Edgar Allan Poe Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

and the Avery

Hopwood Award The Hopwood Awards are a major scholarship program at the University of Michigan, founded by Avery Hopwood. Under the terms of the will of Avery Hopwood, a prominent American dramatist and member of the class of 1905 of the University of Michigan, ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

.Official website
ritalakin.com; accessed November 29, 2014.

Books

Television

Rita Lakin has written 464 episodes, eight movies of the week, and two miniseries, spanning 30 television productions. She is also the creator of the crime drama series ''

'' and the prime time soap '' Flamingo Road'', and co-creator with Howard Lakin and Frank Furino of the US medical drama '' Nightingales'' produced by

Aaron Spelling Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923 June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the TV series ''Family'' (1976–1980), '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977–1986 ...

.IMDB

References

External links

* * Th
Rita Lakin papers
at th
American Heritage Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakin, Rita 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American mystery writers American soap opera writers 1930 births Living people University of Michigan alumni Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Women mystery writers 20th-century American women writers American women television writers Hopwood Award winners Women soap opera writers 21st-century American women writers