Matthew Williams (born April 18, 1951), is an American television producer, television writer, and professor.

Biography

Williams, whose birth name is Mark, is a graduate of the

University of Evansville The University of Evansville (UE) is a private university in Evansville, Indiana. It was founded in 1854 as Moores Hill College. The university operates a satellite center, Harlaxton College, in Grantham, England. UE offers more than 80 differ ...

and did post-graduate work in theater at

The University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Urban 13 association. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High rese ...

. Before becoming a writer and producer, he was an actor, appearing in commercials, theater and as Ben Martin on the

CBN CBN, or cbn, may refer to: Broadcasting organizations * Radio stations in St. John's, Newfoundland: ** CBN (AM), CBC Radio One ** CBN-FM, CBC Music * Chronicle Broadcasting Network, the predecessor of ABS-CBN * CBN (Australian TV station), a TV s ...

soap opera '' Another Life'' in the early 1980s. One of his many credits is creating and executive producing, along with

Carmen Finestra Carmen Finestra (born 1947) is an American producer and TV writer who currently is partnered with Matt Williams and David McFadzean in Wind Dancer Productions, a firm which Finestra also co-owns and co-founded with actor Tim Allen. For Wind Dancer ...

and

David McFadzean David Campbell McFadzean (born April 9, 1947) is an American television producer, television writer, film producer and playwright. He is best known for co-creating the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement'' with Carmen Finestra and Matt Williams. C ...

, the TV series ''

Home Improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

''. He produced films such as ''

What Women Want ''What Women Want'' is a 2000 American romantic fantasy comedy film written by Josh Goldsmith, Cathy Yuspa, and Diane Drake, directed by Nancy Meyers, and starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. The film earned mixed reviews from critics but wa ...

''. He was a writer/producer for ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class African- ...

'' and ''

A Different World ''A Different World'' is an American sitcom (and a spin-off of ''The Cosby Show'') television series that aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987 to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable ( Lisa Bonet) an ...

'', and wrote the screenplay for ''

Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken ''Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken'' is a 1991 American drama film directed by Steve Miner. It concerns Sonora Webster Carver, a rider of diving horses. Gabrielle Anwar stars as Carver alongside Michael Schoeffling and Cliff Robertson. It is bas ...

''. Williams created the TV series ''

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May 22, 2018. The show stars Barr as Roseann ...

'' but was fired after its 13th episode; he retained "created by" credit for its series run and also for its spin-off ''

The Conners ''The Conners'' is an American television sitcom created for ABC as a renamed direct continuation of the sequel to the series ''Roseanne''. The series is produced by Werner Entertainment, with Bruce Helford serving as showrunner and features ac ...

''. Additionally, he has written the play "Between Daylight and Boonville", and directed and co-produced the feature film '' Where the Heart Is'' starring

Natalie Portman Natalie Portman (born Natalie Hershlag, he, נטע-לי הרשלג, ) is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had a prolific film career since her teenage years and has starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving mu ...

. He also wrote and directed ''

Walker Payne ''Walker Payne'' is a 2006 film directed and co-written by Matt Williams and starring Jason Patric, Drea de Matteo, KaDee Strickland, Sam Shepard and Bruce Dern. It was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 27, 2006. Plot The license pla ...

'' in 2006, starring

Jason Patric Jason Patric (born June 17, 1966) is an American film, television and stage actor. He is known for his roles in films such as ''The Lost Boys'', ''Rush'', ''Sleepers'', '' Geronimo: An American Legend'', ''Your Friends & Neighbors'', '' Narc'', ...

Drea de Matteo Andrea Donna de Matteo is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Adriana La Cerva on the HBO television drama ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2006), for which she received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a ...

, and

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...

. Williams is originally from

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

. Williams is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Film at

Columbia University School of the Arts The Columbia University School of the Arts, (also known as School of the Arts or SoA) is the fine arts graduate school of Columbia University in Morningside Heights, New York. It offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in Film, Visual Arts, ...

New York, NY New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Matt 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male screenwriters American television writers Writers from Evansville, Indiana University of Evansville alumni Living people Showrunners American male television writers American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers Home Improvement (TV series) Film directors from Indiana Television producers from Indiana 1951 births