Stephen J. Cannell

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Stephen J. Cannell

2005 photo
Born February 5, 1941 (1941-02-05) (age 67)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Writer, Producer

Stephen Joseph Cannell, (born February 5, 1941; pronounced /ˈkænəl/, rhymes with "channel"), is an American television producer, writer, novelist, and occasional actor.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born in Los Angeles, California to a prominent local family, Cannell's father owned an interior design and furniture business. Cannell struggled with dyslexia in school, but did graduate from the University of Oregon in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science in journalism.[1] At UO, he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity.

After college Cannell spent four years working with the family business before selling his first script to the Universal series It Takes a Thief in 1968. He was quickly hired by the television production branch of Universal Studios and was soon free-lance writing for other crime shows such as Ironside and Columbo. Not longer after he received his first full-time gig as the story editor of Jack Webb's police series Adam-12, then in its fourth season (1971-1972).

Noted for sophisticated, character-driven writing within genre formats, Cannell has created or co-created nearly 40 different (mostly) crime drama shows, including The Rockford Files, The Greatest American Hero, The A-Team, Wiseguy, 21 Jump Street, Silk Stalkings and The Commish. In the process he has scripted more than 350 episodes, and produced or executive produced in excess of 1,500 episodes.

Cannell has also acted occasionally, including a regular supporting role as "Dutch" Dixon on his series, Renegade. He also took a turn in an episode of Silk Stalkings, in which the script called for one character to tell him, "You look just like that writer on TV," to which Cannell's character responds, "I get that all the time."

In an effort to lower production costs, Cannell opened a major studio facility in Vancouver, British Columbia toward the end of the 1980s. One of the first series shot there was 21 Jump Street, the highest-rated show of the new Fox network's first season. Scene of the Crime, a mystery anthology series for CBS's late-night schedule, was also filmed in Vancouver and was hosted by Cannell himself. His production company was acquired by New World Communications in 1995. He currently heads the Cannell Studios.[2]

In recent years, Cannell has turned his attention to novels. As of 2008, he has written 14 novels, half of which have featured the character of Shane Scully of the LAPD.

He collaborated with Janet Evanovich on a book entitled No Chance, which was to be the first book in a new series. It was scheduled for release in October 2007. However, as of July 2007, the book seems to have been canceled.[3]

Cannell currently lives in Los Angeles. He married his high school sweetheart, Marcia, and together they have two daughters, and a son.[1] Their first child, Derek, passed away in 1981, at age 15, when a sand castle he was building at the beach collapsed and suffocated him.[1]

[edit] Selected Filmography

[edit] Television

Cover of the Shane Scully novel Cold Hit
Cover of the Shane Scully novel Cold Hit

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Shane Scully series

  • The Tin Collectors (2001)
  • The Viking Funeral (2002)
  • Hollywood Tough (2003)
  • Vertical Coffin (2004)
  • Cold Hit (2004)
  • White Sister (2006)
  • Three Shirt Deal (2007)

[edit] Other novels

  • The Plan (1996)
  • Final Victim (1997)
  • King Con (1998)
  • Riding The Snake (1999)
  • The Devil's Workshop (2000)
  • Runaway Heart (2003)
  • At First Sight (2008)

[edit] Trivia

  • The closing logo of his production company features him typing, before throwing the sheet from his typewriter whereupon it animates to become his company logo against a black screen. It was updated often, the main differences being Cannell's clothes, sometimes new awards in the background and (rarely) a new office for the live-action part. Early examples are also notable for Cannell smoking a pipe as he types. His production logo is parodied by Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, the two members of the French electronica duo Justice (French band), at the end of the music video for their song DVNO.
  • Cannell is dyslexic, and is a spokesperson on the subject. According to an episode of Paul Harvey's The Rest of the Story, Cannell frequently has to dictate ideas or even complete scripts to a personal secretary.
  • Cannell continues to write on an old-fashioned typewriter (an IBM Selectric currently) and only uses a computer for research purposes.
  • For many years, Cannell's office was at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, though his shows (with the exception of Hunter) were almost always distributed by Universal Studios.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Producer Stephen J. Cannell - Luke Ford
  2. ^ Thompson, Robert J. Cannell, Stephen J. - at the Museum of Broadcast Communications
  3. ^ No Chance of Evanovich/Cannell Collaboration - at MediaBistro.com

[edit] External links