David E. Kelley
Birth Name:
David Edward Kelley
Birth Place:
Waterville, Maine, United States
Profession
Writer, Producer, Actor
Fast Facts
- Inducted into the Television Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame in early 2014
- Won the Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement from the Writers Guild of America in 2003
- Worked at a Boston law firm dealing with real estate and minor criminal cases while writing screenplays as a hobby
- Quote: "I tend to be a little grand in terms of storytelling․ I've never been limited by anybody's sense of reality․"
- Writes episodes with multiple storylines, some of which are self-contained, but others of which may stretch through several episodes or an entire season
- Writes his first drafts longhand on a yellow legal pad with a metal Bic ballpoint pen, collaborating little with others
- His senior thesis was a study of the Bill of Rights written as a play in which each bill was a character with a distinct personality
- Was a stick boy for the New England Whalers while his father, Jack Kelley, coached the team, and was the captain of his hockey team at Princeton University
Awards
- 1988Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series:Nominated
- 1988Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series:Nominated
- 1988Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series:Nominated
- 1988WGA Award (TV) - Episodic Drama:Nominated
- 1989Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series:Winner
- 1989Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series:Nominated
- 1989Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series:Nominated
- 1989Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series:Nominated
- 1989WGA Award (TV) - Episodic Drama:Nominated
- 1990Edgar - Best Television Episode:Nominated
- 1990Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series:Nominated
- 1990Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series:Winner
- 1990Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series:Winner
- 1990WGA Award (TV) - Episodic Drama:Nominated
- 1991Edgar - Best Television Episode:Nominated
- 1991Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series:Nominated
- 1991Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series:Winner
- 1991Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series:Winner
- 1991WGA Award (TV) - Episodic Drama:Nominated
- 1991WGA Award (TV) - Episodic Drama:Nominated
- 1993Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series:Winner
- 1994Edgar - Best Television Episode:Nominated
- 1994Humanitas Prize - 60 Minute Category:Nominated
- 1994Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series:Winner
- 1994WGA Award (TV) - Episodic Drama:Nominated
- 1995Humanitas Prize - 60 Minute Category:Nominated
- 1995PGA Award - Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television:Nominated
- 1995Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series:Nominated
- 1996Humanitas Prize - 60 Minute Category:Winner
- 1996Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series:Nominated
- 1996WGA Award (TV) - Episodic Drama:Nominated
- 1998Edgar - Best Television Episode:Nominated
- 1998Monitor - Film Originated Television Series - Best Achievement:Winner
- 1998Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Comedy Series:Nominated
- 1998Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series:Nominated
- 1998Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series:Nominated
- 1998Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series:Winner
- 1999BAFTA TV Award - Best International (Programme or Series):Nominated
- 1999PGA Award - Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television:Nominated
- 1999PGA Award - Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television:Winner
- 1999Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series:Nominated
- 1999Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series:Winner
- 1999Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Comedy Series:Winner
- 1999TCA Award - Individual Achievement in Drama:Winner
- 1999WGA Award (TV) - Episodic Drama:Nominated
- 2000Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series:Nominated
- 2001Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series:Nominated
- 2002Edgar - Best Television Episode:Nominated
- 2002Humanitas Prize - 60 Minute Category:Winner
- 2003Humanitas Prize - 60 Minute Category:Winner
- 2004Edgar - Best Television Episode Teleplay:Winner
- 2006PGA Award - Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama:Nominated
- 2007Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series:Nominated
- 2008Humanitas Prize - 60 Minute Category:Nominated
- 2008Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Drama Series:Nominated
- 2009PGA Award - Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama:Nominated
- 2013Humanitas Prize - 60 Minute Category:Nominated
- 2017Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or a Dramatic Special:Nominated
- 2017Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Limited Series:Winner
- 2018PGA Award - Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama:Nominated
- 2018USC Scripter Award - Television:Nominated
- 2018WGA Award (TV) - Long Form - Adaptation:Winner
- 2020Gold Derby TV Award - Drama Episode:Nominated
- 2020PGA Award - Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama:Nominated
- 2021PGA Award - Outstanding Producer of Limited Series Television:Nominated
- 2021Magnolia Award - Best Foreign TV Film/Miniseries:Nominated
- 2022HCA Award - Best Writing in a Streaming Series, Drama:Nominated
- 2025WGA Award (TV) - Limited Series:Nominated
- 2026Gold Derby TV Award - Comedy Episode:Nominated
- 2026Primetime Emmy - Outstanding Comedy Series:Nominated