Jaffe Cohen (born 1962) is an American television writer and producer, most noted as a co-creator with Ryan Murphy and Michael Zam of the television series Feud . [1]
Cohen first became prominent in the 1980s as a member of the comedy troupe Funny Gay Males, alongside Bob Smith and Danny McWilliams. [2] The trio toured for several years, performing a show that consisted of each member performing a solo standup comedy set, including an appearance at the 1991 Just for Laughs festival. [3] They also collaborated on the 1995 comedy book Growing Up Gay: From Left Out to Coming Out, which was a Lambda Literary Award nominee in the humor category at the 8th Lambda Literary Awards. [4]
After the troupe went on hiatus in the late 1990s, he auditioned for the role of Simon in the 1997 film As Good As It Gets , but was passed over for being "too gay" despite Simon being a gay character. [5] He did, however, appear in the film in a smaller supporting role as a party guest. [6] He also performed at the 1997 We're Funny That Way! comedy festival, with his set forming part of David Adkin's 1998 documentary film, [7] and in the 1998 sketch comedy special In Thru the Out Door . [8]
He was one of the writers of the 1999 film Hit and Runway , [9] which won the award for best screenplay at the 1999 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. [10]
Funny Gay Males briefly reunited in the mid-2000s, adding Eddie Sarfaty as a fourth member. [11] Cohen subsequently became a professor of television and film writing at the State University of New York at Oneonta. [1]
As a co-producer and writer of Feud, Cohen received a Producers Guild of America nomination for Best Long-Form Television at the 29th Producers Guild of America Awards, [12] a Writers Guild of America nomination for Best Long Form Original Television at the 70th Writers Guild of America Awards, [13] and Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series and Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards. [14]