Gary David Goldberg Biography

Fast Facts

• Won two Humanitas Prizes, one in the 30 Minute Category and one in the 60 Minute Category, for "Family Ties" in 1984 and 1987
• Won a Producers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Producer of Television for "Brooklyn Bridge" in 1992
• Won an Outstanding Television Writer Award from the Austin Film Festival in 2001
• Won two Writers Guild of America Awards for Episodic Comedy, one for "M*A*S*H*" in 1979 and one for "Family Ties" in 1988, as well as a Valentine Davies Award in 1998 and a Herb Sargent Award in 2010
• Studied at Brandeis University and San Diego State University, where he decided to become a writer
• Started out as an actor on the TV series "The Adventures of Scooterman" in 1972, but didn't appear on camera again until 2011, in the film "No Strings Attached․"
• Got his first television writing job on an episode of "The Dumplings" in 1976
• Quote: "I watched very little TV growing up and never thought I would end up as a TV and film writer, producer and director․ I thought I would play center field for the Brooklyn Dodgers and when that fell through I really had no back up plan․"
• Quote: "I was interested in the dynamic of a couple that had been together long term․․․a house where there was romance and where the parents' relationship to the kids reflected expanded lanes of communication and represented the way families were changing․"
• In addition to his work on popular TV series "Family Ties" and "Spin City," he is perhaps also best known for his work on the semi-autobiographical "Brooklyn Bridge," which ran for two years beginning in 1991
• Wrote, produced, and directed the films "Dad" in 1989 and "Must Love Dogs" in 2005