While other artists earn law degrees in case they need a stable career to fall back on, this Boston-based attorney traded the bar for showbiz after penning his first screenplay — the courtroom comedy
From the Hip — which was made into a movie in 1987. A year earlier, the then-unsold script inspired TV producer Steven Bochco to hire Kelley as a scribe on his new show
L.A. Law. After quickly being promoted to head writer, then executive producer, Kelley began creating his own hit series, including teen doctor dramedy
Doogie Howser, M.D., eccentric small-town crime series
Picket Fences, medical saga
Chicago Hope, quirky legal comedy
Ally McBeal, and gritty legal drama
The Practice and its spin-off,
Boston Legal. A workhorse able to craft unforgettable characters and infuse serious stories with offbeat humor, Kelley oversaw several shows simultaneously in the '90s. And while his forays into film were less successful (
Mystery, Alaska;
To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, starring wife Michelle Pfeiffer), he consoled himself with a slew of honors for his small-screen projects, including a number of Emmys and TV Guide's Brandon Tartikoff Award in 2001.
David E. Kelley Fast Facts:
- Father, Jack Kelley, was a Hall of Fame hockey coach at Boston University from 1962-72, winning NCAA championships in 1971 and '72. He later coached and held front-office positions in the NHL.
- An avid hockey player himself, Kelley captained his team at Princeton and played professionally for a year in Switzerland after graduation.
- Worked as a lawyer at the Boston firm Fine & Ambrogne from 1983-86.
- Woman in rocking chair who says "You stinka!" in closing credits of David E. Kelley Productions is his late grandmother.
- In 2003, fired most of the original cast of The Practice in order to reduce costs. James Spader signed on as the series' new lead and in 2004 earned his own spin-off, Boston Legal.
- Although initially very critical of the reality-TV craze, Kelley created his own short-lived reality show, The Law Firm, in 2005.
- David E. Kelley Relationships:
- Claudia Rose Kelley - Daughter
- Ginny Kelley - Mother
- Jack Kelley - Father
- John Henry Kelley - Son
- Michelle Pfeiffer - Wife
- David E. Kelley Awards:
- 1998 Emmy: Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series - Nominee
- 1999 Emmy: Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series - Nominee
- 1988 Emmy: Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 1988 Emmy: Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 1989 Emmy: Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 1989 Emmy: Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 1989 Emmy: Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 1990 Emmy: Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series - Winner
- 1990 Emmy: Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 1991 Emmy: Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series - Nominee
- 1991 Emmy: Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series - Winner
- 1998 Emmy: Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series - Nominee
- 1988 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Nominee
- 1989 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Winner
- 1990 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Winner
- 1998 Emmy: Outstanding Comedy Series - Nominee
- 1999 Emmy: Outstanding Comedy Series - Winner
- 1991 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Winner
- 1993 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Winner
- 1994 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Winner
- 1995 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Nominee
- 1996 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Nominee
- 1998 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Winner
- 1999 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Winner
- 2000 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Nominee
- 2001 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Nominee
- 2007 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Nominee
- 2008 Emmy: Outstanding Drama Series - Nominee
- College:
- Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (BA in Political Science, 1979); Boston University, Boston, MA (JD, 1983)
