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American television writers

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Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and comedian. In a career spanning eight decades, he has written for film, television, and theater. Allen has received many accolades, including the most wins and nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He has won four Academy Awards, ten BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Grammy Award, as well as nominations for an Emmy Award and a Tony Award. Allen has also received numerous honors, including an Honorary Golden Lion in 1995, the BAFTA Fellowship in 1997, an Honorary Palme d'Or in 2002, and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2014. Two of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror fiction and has also explored other genres, among them suspense, crime, science-fiction, fantasy, and mystery. He has written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in collections.
Jim Carrey
James Eugene Carrey is a Canadian and American actor and comedian. Known primarily for his energetic slapstick performances, he is regarded as one of the most prominent comedic actors of his generation. He has received two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for BAFTA Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin, also known by the initials G.R.R.M., is an American author, screenwriter, and television producer. Martin is best known as the author of the epic fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, which was adapted by HBO into the Primetime Emmy Award–winning television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019) and its prequel series House of the Dragon (2022–present). Martin also wrote a related series of novellas, Tales of Dunk and Egg, which have been adapted by HBO as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2026–present). Outside of A Song of Ice and Fire and its related media, Martin helped create the Wild Cards anthology series and contributed worldbuilding for the video game Elden Ring (2022).
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series The X-Files, socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies's film The House of Mirth (2000), DSU Stella Gibson in the BBC/RTÉ crime drama television series The Fall, sex therapist Jean Milburn in the Netflix comedy-drama Sex Education, and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of Netflix drama series The Crown. Among other honors, she has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. She has resided in London since 2002, after earlier years divided between the United Kingdom and the United States.
Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Michael Bourdain was an American celebrity chef, author and travel documentarian. He starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the human condition.
Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and musician. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, his accolades include an Independent Spirit Award, alongside nominations for three Grammy Awards, seven Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, eight Golden Raspberry Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2023, Sandler was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Ellen DeGeneres
American comedian, television host, actress, and writer (born 1958)
Joan Rivers
American comedian, actress, and television host (1933–2014)
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known for his blend of slapstick humor and sharp wit, Stiller rose to fame through comedies such as There's Something About Mary (1998), Zoolander (2001), and Tropic Thunder (2008). Stiller is also known for his work in franchises such as the Meet the Parents films (2000–present), the Madagascar franchise (2005–2012), and the Night at the Museum films (2006–2014). His films have grossed more than $2.6 billion in Canada and the United States, with an average of $79 million per film. His awards and honors include an Emmy Award, a Directors Guild of America Award, a Britannia Award and a Teen Choice Award.
Garry Shandling
American comedian (1949–2016)
Bill Cosby
American actor and comedian
David Letterman
American comedian and television host
Mel Brooks
Melvin James Brooks is an American actor, filmmaker, comedian, songwriter, and playwright. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. A recipient of numerous accolades, he is one of 28 entertainers to win the EGOT, which includes an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. He received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2009, a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2010, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2013, a British Film Institute Fellowship in 2015, a National Medal of Arts in 2016, a BAFTA Fellowship in 2017, and an Honorary Academy Award in 2024.
Tina Fey
American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright
Will Ferrell
John William Ferrell is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for his leading man roles in comedy films and for his work as a television producer. Ferrell has received various accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Awards and a British Academy Television Award, in addition to nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and for a Tony Award. In 2011, Ferrell was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. In 2015, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was named the year's best comedian in British GQ.
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series Family Guy and The Orville, and co-creator of the television series American Dad! and The Cleveland Show. He also co-wrote, co-produced, directed, and starred in the films Ted, its sequel Ted 2, and A Million Ways to Die in the West.
Larry David
American comedian, writer and actor (born 1947)
Jay Leno
American television host and comedian (born 1950)
Garry Marshall
American actor and filmmaker (1934–2016)
Matt Groening
American cartoonist (born 1954)
Neil Patrick Harris
American actor (born 1973)
Robert Altman
American filmmaker (1925–2006)
Steve Carell
Steven John Carell is an American actor and comedian. He starred as Michael Scott in the NBC sitcom The Office, and also worked at several points as a producer, executive producer, writer, and director. Carell has received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award for The Office. He was recognized as "America's Funniest Man" by Life.
Suzanne Collins
American television writer and novelist
Dan Castellaneta
American actor
Jenny Slate
American actress and comedian (born 1982)
J. J. Abrams
American filmmaker (1966-)
William Gibson
American-Canadian speculative fiction writer (born 1948)
Amy Poehler
American actress
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, and writer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows, beginning with Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993–2009) and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009–2010) on the NBC television network, and Conan (2010–2021) on the cable channel TBS. Before his hosting career, O'Brien was a writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1988 to 1991, and the Fox animated sitcom The Simpsons from 1991 to 1993. He has hosted the podcast series Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend since 2018, and starred in the 2024 travel show Conan O'Brien Must Go on HBO Max.
Chris Rock
American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer, and director
Jerry Seinfeld
American comedian and actor
Jon Stewart
American comedian, writer, producer, activist, and television host
Kevin Hart
American comedian and actor (born 1979)
Billy Crystal
William Edward Crystal is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He is known as a stand-up comedian and for his film and stage roles. Crystal has received numerous accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award as well as nominations for three Grammy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2007, the Critics' Choice Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2023.
Gene Roddenberry
American television screenwriter and producer (1921–1991)
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the Comedy Central news satire show The Colbert Report from 2005 to 2014, and the CBS talk show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert since September 2015.
Barbara Walters
American broadcast journalist (1929–2022)
Jon Favreau
American actor and filmmaker (born 1966)
Triple H
American professional wrestler
Paul Reubens
American actor and comedian (1952–2023)
Dan Aykroyd
Canadian-American actor (born 1952)
John Belushi
American actor (1949–1982)
Jimmy Kimmel
James Christian Kimmel is an American television host and comedian. He is best known as the host and executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which has aired on ABC since 2003. Kimmel has hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards three times, in 2012, 2016 and 2020, and the Academy Awards four times, in 2017, 2018, 2023, and 2024.
John Carpenter
American filmmaker, composer and actor (born 1948)
Liev Schreiber
American actor
Joss Whedon
American director, screenwriter, and producer (born 1964)
the Wachowskis
American film directors, screenwriters, and producers
Blake Edwards
American film director, screenwriter and producer (1922-2010)
Awkwafina
Nora Lum (born June 2, 1988), known professionally as Awkwafina ( ), is an American actress and rapper. She rose to prominence in 2012 when her rap song "My Vag" became popular on YouTube. She then released her debut album, Yellow Ranger (2014), and appeared on the MTV comedy series Girl Code (2014–2015). She expanded to films with supporting roles in the comedies Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), ''Ocean's 8 (2018), Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). For her starring role as a grieving young woman in The Farewell'' (2019), she won a Golden Globe Award.
Richard Pryor
American comedian and actor (1940–2005)
Jimmy Fallon
American talk show host and comedian (born 1974)
Tyler Perry
American actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, producer, author, and songwriter
Barry Levinson
American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer
Trey Parker
American actor, animator and filmmaker (born 1969)
Louis C.K.
American comedian, actor, and filmmaker (born 1967)
Patton Oswalt
American actor
Aaron Sorkin
American filmmaker (born 1961)
Michael Mann
American film director, screenwriter, and producer (born 1943)