Mel Tolkin | |
|---|---|
| Born | Shmuel Tolchinsky August 3, 1913 |
| Died | November 26, 2007 (aged 94) |
| Other names | Samuel Tolchinsky |
| Occupation | Television comedy writer |
| Years active | 1940s to 1980s |
| Notable work | Your Show of Shows |
| Awards | Emmy Award Humanitas Prize Peabody Award Four Writers Guild of America Awards |
Mel Tolkin (né Shmuel Tolchinsky; August 3, 1913 – November 26, 2007)[1] was an American television comedy writer best known as head writer of the live sketch comedy series Your Show of Shows (NBC, 1950–1954) during the Golden Age of Television. There he presided over a staff that at times included Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, and Danny Simon. The writers' room inspired the film My Favorite Year (1982), produced by Brooks, and the Broadway play Laughter on the 23rd Floor (1993), written by Neil Simon.
Tolkin, who won an Emmy Award and every other major prize for television writing, was the father of screenwriter-novelist Michael Tolkin and TV writer-director Stephen Tolkin.