Chris Ruppenthal (born as John Christian Ruppenthal on June 1, 1955) is an American television and film writer based in Hollywood, California.

Life and career

Born and raised in

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

, Ruppenthal received an A.B. Degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1976 where 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 ...

'' as well as a member of The

Delphic Club The Delphic Club is an all-male social group at Harvard University founded in 1846. It began the process of merging with the all-female Bee Club in August 2017, and the Delphic & Bee became one of fifteen Harvard-recognized social organizations ...

and The

Hasty Pudding Hasty pudding is a pudding or porridge of grains cooked in milk or water. In the United States, it often refers specifically to a version made primarily with ground ("Indian") corn, and it is mentioned in the lyrics of "Yankee Doodle", a tradit ...

where he performed in three of the famous

travesty musicals. Following Harvard he worked for a time in

New York City 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 ...

in advertising before moving to California to pursue a writing career. He received an M.A. degree from the

USC Film School 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 ...

. Amongst his vast resume as a television producer, Ruppenthal has served as a producer/co-producer for the NBC-TV series ''

Quantum Leap ''Quantum Leap'' is an American science fiction television series, created by Donald P. Bellisario, that premiered on NBC and aired for five seasons, from March 26, 1989, to May 5, 1993. The series stars Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a physi ...

'', as co-executive producer of '' The Outer Limits'' and ''

Silk Stalkings ''Silk Stalkings'' is an American crime drama television series that premiered on CBS on November 7, 1991, as part of the network's late-night ''Crimetime After Primetime'' programming package. Broadcast for two seasons until CBS ended the ''Crim ...

'' (which he also wrote scripts for) TV series, also as supervising producer of ABC-TV's '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' (of also he wrote episodes for), CBS-TV's ''

Touched by an Angel ''Touched by an Angel'' is an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced ...

'', ''

Harts of the West Harts of the West is a humorous contemporary western about a Chicago family moving to a run-down Nevada ranch. The series consisted of 15 hour-long episodes that aired on CBS Saturdays, 9:00 to 10:00 p.m., from September 1993 until June 1994. ...

'' and ''

Covington Cross ''Covington Cross'' is a television series that was broadcast on ABC in the United States from August 25 to October 31, 1992. The series was created by Gil Grant, who was also executive producer. The pilot episode also aired in the United Kingdo ...

''; and has writing credits for '' Blade: The Series'', ''Avalon: Beyond the Abyss'', NBC's '' The Pretender'', FOX-TV's ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'', CBS-TV's ''

'', ''Harts of the West'', ''

The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. ''The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.'', often referred to as just ''Brisco'' or ''Brisco County'', is an American weird western television series created by Jeffrey Boam and Carlton Cuse. It ran for 27 episodes on the Fox network starting i ...

'', ''Covington Cross'', ABC-TV's ''

Moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job A side job, also informally called a side hustle or side gig, is an additional job that a person takes in addition to their primary job in order to supplement their income. Side jobs may be done out of nec ...

, ''

Sledge Hammer! ''Sledge Hammer!'' is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from September 23, 1986 to February 12, 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector ...

'' and ''

Max Headroom Max Headroom is a fictional artificial intelligence (AI) character portrayed by actor Matt Frewer. Advertised as "the first computer-generated TV presenter", Max was known for his biting commentary on a variety of topical issues, arrogant wit, ...

''.

Personal life

Ruppenthal currently resides in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, where he continues to write for television and Works for

LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...

at Berendo Middle Schoolin (the Pico-Union District) and the

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 ...

Extension School.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Chris Ruppenthal bio
at UCLA Extension weblink (UCLAExtension.edu)
Writer's Guild West
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruppenthal, Chris 1955 births Living people American television directors American television producers American male screenwriters Film directors from Florida USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni The Harvard Lampoon alumni Hasty Pudding alumni Screenwriters from Florida