Susan Harris

Birth Name:

Susan Spivak

Birth Place:

Mount Vernon, New York, United States

Profession

Writer, Producer, Script department, Actress

Won a Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement from the Writers Guild of America in 2005
Won the Special Achievement Award from the Retirement Research Foundation for Television and Theatrical Film Fiction for "The Golden Girls" in 1989
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․"

Fast Facts