Eric Monte

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Eric Monte (born Kenneth Williams circa 1944) is an American television writer who has written for and created notable shows depicting 1970s African American culture.

Born in Chicago and raised in the Cabrini-Green housing project, he dropped out of high school and hitchiked to Hollywood. Monte's first big break came five years later with a script written for and accepted by All in the Family. From there, he went on to produce work responsible for two 1970s sitcoms: Good Times (which he co-created with The Jeffersons star Mike Evans) and What's Happening!! (which was based on his motion picture Cooley High).

According to the Los Angeles Times, in 1977 he filed a lawsuit accusing ABC, CBS, producers Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin and others of stealing his ideas for Good Times, The Jeffersons (an All in the Family spinoff) and What's Happening!! Eventually, he says, he received a $1-million settlement and a small percentage of the residuals from Good Times — but opportunities to pitch new scripts dried up along with his money. He lost the bulk of the settlement money when he financed a play he had written titled "If They Come Back."

Monte eventually fell on hard times and developed an addiction to crack cocaine by 2003. As of April, 2006, Monte had declared bankruptcy and was living in a Salvation Army homeless shelter in Bell, California. He appeared to be maintaining sobriety, as the shelter required regular drug tests. He was actively pursuing further attempts to sell television and film scripts, as well as a self-published book called Blueprint for Peace.

[edit] References

Mitchell, John L. (April 14, 2006). Plotting His Next Big Break. Los Angeles Times
Dunn, Katia (July 29, 2006). For Classic TV Producer, Good Times No Longer. NPR Weekend Edition