A highly articulate TV writer-producer, Duff started out as a playwright. Ironically, his 1984 Broadway debut, the family drama
Home Front, was dismissed by the New York Times as too "television." Although the play closed quickly, with some retooling and a new title,
The War at Home, it went on to have a successful worldwide run and was turned into a 1996 movie. Duff earned an Emmy nod for his very first teleplay, another dysfunctional-family saga called
Doing Time on Maple Drive. And while he made a brief foray into comedy as the supervising writer on the cult series
Popular, he remained dramatic at heart, penning a number of TV-movies and failed pilots. His ability to craft fascinating but flawed characters finally paid off in 2005 when he created
The Closer, a highly successful crime series about a mess of a master interrogator.
James Duff Fast Facts:
- His father, James H. Duff, was a Sears, Roebuck executive.
- Attended five elementary schools, three junior highs and three high schools.
- While in high school, he participated in an acting workshop taught by G.W. Bailey, who, 34 years later, landed a starring role in Duff's series The Closer.
- The 1984 breakout play Home Front---which was made into a 1996 film called The War at Home---was inspired by letters written home by his uncle, Col. David Duff, during the Vietnam War.
- James Duff Relationships:
- James H. Duff - Father
- James Duff Awards:
- 1992 Emmy: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing in a Miniseries or a Special - Nominee
- College:
- Attended Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX; attended Tarrant County Junior College, Hurst, TX