Les Charles Biography

Fast Facts

• Won a Laurel Award from the Writers Guild of America for TV Writing Achievement in 2002
• Won a Writers Guild of America Award for Episodic Comedy for "Cheers" in 1984
• Was nominated for two Writers Guild of America Awards for Episodic Comedy for "Taxi" in 1980 and 1981
• Graduated from the University of the Redlands with a degree in English
• The first script he sold was for "M*A*S*H*" in 1975, which he had written with his brother
• Started out as a high school English teacher before transitioning into comedy TV writing with his brother
• Quote: "(On a woman who used "Cheers" to distract herself while her child was critically ill): "That was a source of inspiration to us for a long time, that a silly little 30-minute sitcom can do something good for people sometimes․""
• Has often worked on projects with his brother, Glen Charles, including "Cheers," "Frasier," and "Taxi․"
• Best known as the creator and executive producer of "Cheers" and creator of the character Frasier Crane in "Frasier․"
• Formed the production company Charles-Burrows-Charles with director James Burrows, whom he and his brother had met on the set of "Phyllis․"