Daniel Luke Zelman (born June 16, 1967) is an American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

screenwriter 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. ...

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon ...

, and director.

Early life and education

Zelman was born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts 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 highe ...

in 1990 and a Master of Fine Arts from

New York University Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the ar ...

in 1993. He is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Career

Zelman is an executive producer on the FX

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

series ''

Damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

'', which he co-created with

Todd A. Kessler Todd A. Kessler (born 1972) is an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer and director. Career Kessler wrote and produced the second and third seasons of HBO's ''The Sopranos'', Michael Mann's ''Robbery Homicide Division'' and ...

and Glenn Kessler. Todd Kessler, Glenn Kessler, and Zelman were nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It was first awarded at the 7th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, held in 1955 and it is given in ...

for their work on the pilot episode of ''

'', titled "Get Me A Lawyer". He also wrote ''

They Nest ''They Nest'' (also known as ''Creepy Crawlers'') is a 2000 American science fiction horror film directed by Ellory Elkayem and starring Thomas Calabro, Dean Stockwell, John Savage, and Kristen Dalton. Plot Stressed by marital breakdown and a ...

'', '' Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid'', and ''Fool's Gold''.

Personal life

In 1990, Zelman met

Debra Messing Debra Lynn Messing (born August 15, 1968) is an American actress. After graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Messing received short-lived roles on television series such as '' Ned and Stacey'' on Fox (1995–1997) and ...

at New York University. Zelman and Messing married on September 3, 2000, and have a son, Roman Walker Zelman, who was born on April 7, 2004. On December 20, 2011, it was announced that Zelman and Messing were ending their eleven year marriage. Messing filed for divorce on June 5, 2012. The divorce was officially completed on March 1, 2016.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zelman, Daniel 1967 births Living people Jewish American screenwriters American male screenwriters American male television actors Place of birth missing (living people) American television directors Damages (TV series) Tisch School of the Arts alumni Showrunners American male television writers Harvard College alumni