Episode 403 - Winnie Holzman and Paul Dooley

Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine

Winnie Holzman’s so-called writing career began innocently enough, writing and performing sketch material with the comedy group “Serious Bizness.” Next came an MFA from NYU in musical theatre, as well as a musical: “Birds of Paradise,” which was produced Off-Broadway and directed by her teacher, Arthur Laurents.

She soon shifted gears, (and coasts) joining the writing staff of the ground-breaking television series “thirtysomething” and then creating theseries, “My So-Called Life,” which starred Claire Danes and which, thanks to MTV (and now HULU) has been seen all over the world.

She collaborated “once and again” with her mentors Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz on their critically acclaimed series “Once and Again;” and later collaborated with her daughter Savannah Dooley on their one hour drama series “Huge;” as well as with Cameron Crowe on the Showtime series “Roadies.”

She is the book writer of the international hit musical Wicked, which has a score by the acclaimed composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz. Wicked celebrated 20 years on Broadway this past fall.

She recently completed both screenplays for the film adaptation of Wicked. Her play Choice, an early version of which had its world premiere at the Huntington Theatre in Boston, in 2016, will be produced this spring at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey.

She is a proud member of the Writers Guild of America West, and the Dramatists Guild, and has been married to the wonderful character actor Paul Dooley for only 39 years.

Paul Dooley is an actor, writer, and comedian, and has appeared in hundreds of movies, TV shows, and plays. His films include Breaking Away, Sixteen Candles, Runaway Bride, Popeye, Insom-nia, Waiting for Guffman, and the Cars franchise. His television appearances include roles in Curb Your Enthusiasm, My So-Called Life, Star Trek, Dream On (Emmy-nominated), and The Practice (Emmy-nominated). He lives in Burbank, California, with his wife Winnie Holzman

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