Peter Lefcourt (born 1946) is an American

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

, a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

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. ...

, and a

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 ...

. Lefcourt's early career involved writing

teleplay A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or an ...

s for

primetime Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

series such as ''

Cagney and Lacey ''Cagney & Lacey'' is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very di ...

'', ''

Scarecrow and Mrs. King ''Scarecrow and Mrs. King'' is an American television series that aired from October 3, 1983, to September 10, 1987, on CBS. The show starred Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner, as divorced housewife Amanda King and top-level "Agency" operative ...

'' (both of which he also produced), ''

Eight is Enough ''Eight Is Enough'' is an American television comedy-drama series that ran on ABC from March 15, 1977, until May 23, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who ...

'', and ''

Remington Steele ''Remington Steele'' is an American television series co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from Oc ...

'', among others. He penned the scripts for the

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

s ''

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

'', ''Cracked Up'', '' Danielle Steel's Fine Things'', and ''The Women of Windsor''. In more recent years he executive-produced and wrote for '' Beggars and Choosers'' and ''

Karen Sisco ''Karen Sisco'' is an American crime drama television series starring Carla Gugino in the title role. The series was created by novelist Elmore Leonard, based on a character who had appeared in several of his written works, as well as one film ad ...

''. Lefcourt was nominated for a 1984 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for ''Cagney and Lacey'' and won the following year. Much of Lefcourt's

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

has been inspired by his true-life experiences working behind-the-scenes in Hollywood. His first novel, '' The Deal'', was adapted for the screen by

William H. Macy William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor. His film career has been built on appearances in small, independent films, though he has also appeared in mainstream films. Some of his best known starring roles include those i ...

and debuted at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Several others of his books are under option or in various stages of development for

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

s. His other novels are ''The Dreyfus Affair'' (1992), ''Di & I'' (1994), ''Abbreviating Ernie'' (1997), ''The Woody'' (1998), ''Eleven Karens'' (2003), ''The Manhattan Beach Project'' (2005), ''Le Jet Lag'' (2007), ''An American Family'' (2010) and ''Purgatory Gardens'' (2015). Lefcourt lives with his wife Terri in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. In a 2012 interview with

Larry Mantle Larry Mantle (born January 12, 1959) is a radio interview call-in show host in Southern California. He has been the host of ''AirTalk with Larry Mantle'' on NPR-member station KPCC (radio station), KPCC, 89.3 FM, since April 1, 1985. ''AirTalk' ...

on KPCC's Airtalk, Lefcourt stated he signed with Amazon.com to publish and distribute his most recent book "with some trepidation". He said friends told him he was 'joining the enemy', but his backlist is selling better electronically on Amazon.com than in it did at traditional booksellers while in print.

Bibliography

*''The Deal'', about a down-and-out movie producer whose leading man is kidnapped from the set during filming *''The Dreyfus Affair'', a comic look at

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

with many allusions to the historical event *''Di & I'', a fictionalized account of Lefcourt's love affair with

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

*''Abbreviating Ernie'', about a

Prozac Fluoxetine, sold under the brand names Prozac and Sarafem, among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorde ...

-popping

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

housewife accused of murdering her

urologist Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and '' -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary-tract system and the reproductive org ...

husband *''Le Jet Lag'', Charlie Berns returns along with 4 hapless Americans at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

*''The Woody'', inspired by his research for an

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

film about the 1995

Bob Packwood Robert William Packwood (born September 11, 1932) is an American retired lawyer and politician from Oregon and a member of the Republican Party. He resigned from the United States Senate, under threat of expulsion, in 1995 after allegations of ...

scandal *''Eleven Karens'', an erotic

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

of his love affairs with eleven women named Karen *''The Manhattan Beach Project'', a

spoof Spoof, spoofs, spoofer, or spoofing may refer to: * Forgery of goods or documents * Semen, in Australian slang * Spoof (game), a guessing game * Spoofing (finance), a disruptive algorithmic-trading tactic designed to manipulate markets __NOTOC__ ...

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

featuring the lead character in ''The Deal'' *''An American Family'', A sprawling narrative of five siblings, born in the 1940s, beginning on the day

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

was shot and ending on 9/11.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefcourt, Peter 1941 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American male screenwriters Television producers from California Writers from Santa Monica, California Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Screenwriters from California