Irma Kalish

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Irma Kalish
Born
Irma May Ginsberg

(1924-10-06)October 6, 1924
The Bronx, New York, U.S.
DiedSeptember 3, 2021(2021-09-03) (aged 96)
Occupation(s)Producer, screenwriter
Spouse
(m. 1948;died. 2016)
Children2; including Bruce Kalish

Irma May Kalish ( née Ginsberg; October 6, 1924 – September 3, 2021) was an American television producer and screenwriter who held a pioneering role as a woman in the TV industry. Kalish produced and wrote for television programs, including Too Close for Comfort , All in the Family , The Facts of Life , Good Times , The Hogan Family , Maude , I Dream of Jeannie , F Troop and Family Affair . She is known for writing the episode of Maude where Maude gets an abortion. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Kalish was born in The Bronx in New York City. [1]

In 1944 or 1945, Kalish graduated from Syracuse University, where she was a member of Phi Sigma Sigma sorority. [2] [3]

Career

Kalish produced and wrote for television programs, including Too Close for Comfort , All in the Family , The Facts of Life , Good Times , The Hogan Family , Maude , I Dream of Jeannie , F Troop and Family Affair .

Starting with the radio show, The Martin and Lewis Show , that featured Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Kalish often wrote with her husband Rocky, her writing partner. [2] When the radio show became a TV show, the Kalishes made the shift to writing for television.

Kalish also executive produced 227 , a sitcom about a working-class African-American family in Washington, D.C. [4]

Kalish also wrote under the pseudonym Cady Kalian with co-writer Naomi Gurian. [5]

Personal life

Kalish was married to Austin “Rocky” Kalish from 1948 to his death in 2016. [6] The couple met when they were young kids in the Bronx. Kalish was Rocky's sister's friend. They had a son, comedy writer Bruce Kalish, and a daughter, Nancy Biederman, who pre-deceased Kalish. [6] [7]

Kalish died on September 3, 2021, at the Motion Picture & Television Fund cottages in Woodland Hills, California, at the age of 96 from complications of pneumonia. [8] [9] [10] [11]

Membership

Honors

Selected filmography

About

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References

  1. 1 2 Harrington, Amy; Kalish, Irma (21 December 2012). "Irma Kalish, Writer". The Interviews: An Oral History of Television! (Oral history). Interviewed by Amy Harrington. North Hollywood, CA: Television Academy Foundation.
  2. 1 2 Herbert, Geoff (7 September 2021). "Irma Kalish, Syracuse alumna who wrote for some of TV's biggest shows, dies at 96". The Post-Standard.
  3. Becque, Fran (3 March 2023). "Irma Ginsberg Kalish, Phi Sigma Sigma". Fraternity History & More. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  4. Ybarra, Michael; Haithman, Diane (23 August 1989). "Taking a Look at TV's Racial Picture".[ permanent dead link ]
  5. "Authors: Cady Kalian". Macmillan. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  6. 1 2 Barnes, Mike (6 October 2016). "Austin 'Rocky' Kalish, Prolific Sitcom Writer, Dies at 95". The Hollywood Reporter.
  7. Verhoeven, Beatrice (1 December 2016). "Nancy Biederman, Motion Picture & Television Fund Advocate, Dies of Leukemia". TheWrap.
  8. Hipes, Patrick (6 September 2021). "Irma Kalish Dies: Pioneering TV Writer-Producer & One Of First Women In Film Presidents Was 96". Deadline.
  9. Barnes, Mike (6 September 2021). "Irma Kalish, Trailblazing Sitcom Writer and Producer, Dies at 96". The Hollywood Reporter.
  10. Goldblatt, Daniel (6 September 2021). "Irma Kalish, Writer on Classic Sitcoms 'All in the Family' and 'Good Times,' Dies at 96". TheWrap.
  11. Littleton, Cynthia (6 September 2021). "Irma Kalish, Prolific and Pioneering TV Comedy Writer, Dies at 96". Variety.
  12. "Headliner Award Recipients: Irma Kalish, executive producer, "Carter Country"". The Association for Women in Communications. 1978.
  13. "Arents Award: 1997, Irma Kalish ′44, Entertainment". Syracuse University Alumni Association. 1997.
  14. "Eggers Senior Alumni Award: 2014, Irma (Ginsberg) Kalish '45, H'07". Syracuse University Alumni Association. 2014.
  15. Reprinted in Pulpwood Days: Volume One: Editors You Want to Know, Locke, ed., Off-Trail Publications, 2007.