The Only Woman in the Room: Episodes in My Life and Career as a Television Writer

335 Pages·2015·8.15 MB·English

by  Rita Lakin

Copyright © 2015 by Rita Lakin
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, without written permission, except
by a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review.
Published in 2015 by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books
An Imprint of Hal Leonard Corporation
7777 West Bluemound Road
Milwaukee, WI 53213
Trade Book Division Editorial Offices
33 Plymouth St., Montclair, NJ 07042
All images and photographs are from the author’s collection.
Printed in the United States of America Book design by John J. Flannery
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lakin, Rita.
The only woman in the room : episodes in my life and career as a television writer / Rita Lakin.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-4950-1405-5
. Lakin, Rita. 2. Television writers--United States--Biography. I. Title.
PN1992.4.L28
[A3 2015]
812’.6--dc23
[B]
2015028676
www.applausebooks.com
This book is about women.
But it is dedicated to men.
The men who helped, who were kind. And cared.
Mel Bloom, Steven Bochco, Eddie Feldman, Michael Filerman,
Freddy Freiberger, Frank Furino, Michael Gleason, Merrill Grant,
Buck Houghton, Mort Lachman, Paul Monash, Sydney Pollack,
Larry Sanitsky, Dale Sheets, Ned Tanen, David Victor,
yes, and even Aaron Spelling.
And most of all,
Douglas Unger,
mentor, author, and dear friend.
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Teaser
PART ONE: THE SIXTIES
Episode One: Universal Studios
How I Almost Met Cary Grant, Doris Day, and Alfred Hitchcock, All in One Day Episode Two: Van Nuys
Home Not-So-Sweet Home, Not Anymore
Episode Three: First Day on the Job
Where I Learn About Cottage Industries, Lew Wasserman, and Jules Stein Episode Four: Reading in Bed
In Which I Tell You About Friends
Episode Five: Cluster Theory
Bad Day, Bad News
Episode Six: Life at the Office
And How I Taught Myself to Write
Episode Seven: Getting an Agent
And I Finish My Sample Script
Episode Eight: Dr. Kildare
My First Appointment, and My Sister Helps Me Pick Out an Outfit Episode Nine: The Bachelor and the
Bobby Soxer—Barry
I Enter the World of Dating, Heaven Help Me
Episode Ten: First Kildare Meeting
Where I Meet David Victor and Sydney Pollack—Color Me Terrified Episode Eleven: “A Candle in the
Window”
In Which I Learn What Makes Me a Writer, and My Sister Checks In Episode Twelve: Housekeeper
Making a Choice, with the Help of the Kids
Episode Thirteen: The Shoot
Where I Sneak onto the Set and Raymond Massey Does Something Mean Episode Fourteen: Chrysler
Theatre
How I Met Dick Berg, Important Producer—My Big Break
Episode Fifteen: “The Shattered Glass”
Inge, Serling, Silliphant, and Schulberg: Famous Writers—I’m in Great Company Episode Sixteen: On the
Air
Biting My Nails and Watching My Dr. Kildare Show with Judy Episode Seventeen: “The Shattered Glass”
Shattered Me
Episode Eighteen: “Shattered Glass” Finale
Pans and Praise
Episode Nineteen: Freelance
Learning What That Meant
Episode Twenty: The Flying Dutchman—Pieter
Picking Up a Guy While Flying
Episode Twenty-One: Pieter—Part Two
A Very Black-and-White Dinner Date
Episode Twenty-Two: Writers Guild Meeting