Susan Harris Biography

Fast Facts

• Won the Special Achievement Award from the Retirement Research Foundation for Television and Theatrical Film Fiction for "The Golden Girls" in 1989
• Won a Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement from the Writers Guild of America in 2005
• Got into television writing after she found herself divorced with a toddler to care for, and she and a friend wrote the spec script for "Then Came Bronson" in 1970
• Quote: "(On "The Golden Girls"): "They constructed a family that really, really worked․․․It showed that you didn't need the customary, traditional relationship to be happy․ It paints a picture of all the possibilities for family․""
• Quote: "(On "The Golden Girls"): "We liked to tackle - not outrageous issues - but important issues․ Things that I knew that people went through that hadn't been addressed on television․""
• Best known as the creator and executive producer of "The Golden Girls" and "Soap․"
• Co-founder of the production company Witt/Thomas/Harris, through which she created "The Golden Girls" spin-offs "Empty Nest" and "The Golden Palace․"
• Appeared on screen three times: once on "The Beverly Hillbillies" in 1970 and twice on "Soap" in 1978
• During the character creation process for "The Golden Girls," she pictured Bea Arthur as the voice of Dorothy but never expected her to be cast in the role
• Had previously retired from television writing before "The Golden Girls," but agreed to do the show when her husband described it as "older women in Miami․"