Richard Culliton

Last updated

Richard Culliton is an American television writer known for his work on soap operas. He has won four Writers Guild of America Awards, including one as a head writer, and three Daytime Emmy Awards. He is an alumnus of Northwestern University. His wife, Carolyn Culliton, is also a veteran writer for soap operas.

Contents

Early career

Culliton began his television career in the early 1980s writing for NBC Daytime's Texas , and then serving as co-head writer for CBS Daytime's Guiding Light from 1983–1984.

After this, he served as head writer of Another World from 1984–1985. The characters of Wallingford and Marley Hudson were created during his tenure. He wrote for Search for Tomorrow under Addie Walsh in 1986. In the late 1980s, Culliton returned to the writing staff of Guiding Light. He was part of the team that won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1990.

Culliton then joined the writing staff of Santa Barbara ; he was a script writer and story editor when the writing team won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991. After this, he joined ABC Daytime's All My Children from 1991–1993 under the leadership of Megan McTavish and Felicia Minei Behr.

Mid to late 1990s

He served as head writer of As the World Turns in 1995, and received a Daytime Emmy nomination. A major storyline of his at that show was a medical malpractice storyline wherein Lisa Grimaldi blamed Dr. John Dixon for her husband Eduardo Grimaldi's death. The storyline received considerable critical acclaim.

He moved on as head writer of General Hospital from September 1996 to May 1997. He received a Daytime Emmy nomination for his time on GH. At the behest of ABC Daytime, he created the General Hospital spin-off Port Charles along with his wife Carolyn, and served as head writer with her for the first few months of the show's run.

Culliton returned to Another World as head writer from December 1997 to May 1998. From May 1998 to July 1998, he served as co-head writer with Jean Passanante on AW. This was a period of turmoil for the show, with the NBC network demanding significant cast firings. However, Culliton still successfully returned longtime character Cass Winthrop to the frontburner, and brought back the character Marley Love. Culliton stayed with the show as a breakdown writer until its cancellation in June 1999.

Culliton then joined the writing staff of Sunset Beach . After taking a short break, he briefly joined the writing team of Days of Our Lives as a script writer.

2000 and beyond

In September 2001, Culliton returned to All My Children, replacing Jean Passanante as head writer. After a drug pushing storyline (which was actually started by Passanante) dragged on too long, some fans became frustrated at the show's slow pace. His more popular decisions were creating characters Frankie Stone (in 2001) and Maggie Stone (in January 2002) [1] and bringing back character Kendall Hart (originated by Sarah Michelle Gellar, and currently portrayed by Alicia Minshew) in January 2002. Culliton was fired in December 2002. [2] Despite this, he was nominated for Daytime Emmy Award in 2002 and 2003.

In 2006, Culliton rejoined the writing staff of As the World Turns as a dialogue writer. He was recently fired from ATWT. He has since joined the writing team of Days of Our Lives as a dialogue writer. In 2012, he won a Daytime Emmy Award as part of the Days of Our Lives writing team, for work in 2011.

Writers Guild awards

Culliton won the Writers Guild of America Award for Daytime Serials in 1998 for General Hospital , where he served as head writer the previous year. Previously, he had also won this award in 1992 as part of the writing staff when Santa Barbara won. In 2007, he won the award again, as part of the writing staff of As the World Turns the previous year; indeed, he didn't just happen to be on the staff, but had been the credited script writer for one of the three scripts submitted by As the World Turns to be judged for the award. He also won for As the World Turns in 2009 when he was nominated as part of the writing staff the previous year.

He was also nominated for this award in 1989 as part of the writing staff of Guiding Light the previous year, in 1994 as part of the writing staff of All My Children the previous year, and in 2002 as part of the writing staff of Days of Our Lives the previous year.

Acting

Culliton played a salesman in a Chicago-area theater production of Glengarry Glen Ross in 2009. [3]

Positions held

All My Children

Another World

As the World Turns

Days of Our Lives

General Hospital

Guiding Light

Port Charles

Santa Barbara

Search for Tomorrow

Sunset Beach (hired by Meg Bennett)

Texas

Awards and nominations

Daytime Emmy Awards

WINS

NOMINATIONS

Writers Guild of America Award

WINS

NOMINATIONS

HW history

Preceded by
L. Virginia Browne
Gene Palumbo
co-head writer of Guiding Light
(with Carolyn Culliton and Gary Tomlin: April – June 1983)
(with Pam Long: June – November 1983)
April – November 1983		Succeeded by
Preceded by head writer of Another World (from July 1984 with Gary Tomlin)
March 1984 – January 1985		Succeeded by
Preceded by head writer of As the World Turns
February 1995 – January 1996 (with J.L. Packer & Garin Wolf for a few months)		Succeeded by
Henry Stern & Stephen Black
Preceded by head writer of General Hospital (with K. Harris: August – December 12, 1996)
August 1996 – June 6, 1997		Succeeded by
Preceded by
none
 head writer of Port Charles (with Carolyn Culliton)
June 1 – October 13, 1997		Succeeded by
Preceded by head writer of Another World (from May 1998 with Jean Passanante)
December 1997 – July 1998		Succeeded by
Preceded by head writer of All My Children
September 2001 – December 2002		Succeeded by

Related Research Articles

James E. Reilly was an American soap opera writer. He was the head writer of NBC's Days of Our Lives and creator/head writer of Passions. Reilly won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Writing as co-head writer for Guiding Light in 1993.

Hogan Sheffer was an American screenwriter.

Jean Passanante is an American television screenwriter, best known for her work in daytime soap operas. Passanante got her start as an actress doing bit parts in the 1980s, including the John Sayles' films Return of the Secaucus 7 and Lianna. She later became a soap opera writer.

Leah Laiman is an American soap opera writer and romance novelist.

Lorraine Broderick is an American television soap opera writer. She got her start on All My Children as a protégée of the show's creator, Agnes Nixon. She went on to serve four different stints as its Head Writer, ultimately earning her four Daytime Emmy awards in that capacity. Broderick's work on the show has often been met with critical acclaim, citing her as its finest head writer outside of Nixon. She was the last head writer of All My Children's 40-year broadcast run on ABC, penning the show through its network finale on September 23, 2011.

Carolyn Culliton is an American daytime radio and television writer. Born in Indiana, she graduated from Northwestern University. Her husband is fellow daytime serial writer Richard Culliton.

Bettina Francion Bradbury was an American television soap opera screenwriter. She was the daughter of American science fiction writer Ray Bradbury.

Christopher Whitesell is an American television soap opera writer. He has served as either co-head writer, associate head writer, or a breakdown writer on the shows he has worked. In April 2012, he was named co-head writer of Days of Our Lives with Gary Tomlin, replacing Marlene Clark McPherson and Darrell Ray Thomas who had been let go.

Gary Tomlin is an American soap opera actor, writer, producer and director.

David A. Levinson is an American television and soap opera writer, originally from Falmouth, Massachusetts. He is a 1997 graduate of Emerson College in Boston.

Stephen Demorest is an American soap opera writer. He is married to Nancy Curlee.

Lisa Connor is an American soap opera writer, producer, and director. She is a writer on the ABC Daytime and The Online Network serial drama All My Children.

The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team is an award presented annually by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It was first awarded at the 1st Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony, held in 1974, and it is given to honor the performances of the entire writing team participating in a form of a daytime drama.

Janet Iacobuzio is an American television soap opera writer.

Jane Atkins is an American film & television writer and actress. She is a native of Florida. As an actress, she has performed with the American Conservatory Theater, the Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, South Coast Repertory, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the London Young Vic. Atkins is a member of the Writers Guild of America and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She has worked for Disney, ABC, NBC, CBS, and Lifetime TV as well as penning several nature documentaries which aired on PBS. She served as Director of Playmaking for the Virginia Avenue Project.

Peter Brash is an American television soap opera writer, screen writer, and musical theatre librettist. His career in soap opera spanned more than 25 years, and included many of the major network serials.

Lloyd "Lucky" Gold is an American screenwriter and playwright.

N. Gail Lawrence is an American television soap opera writer.

Nancy Williams Watt is an American writer known for her work on television soap operas. She was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 9, 1948, to Associated Press editor Edward Williams and newswoman Sheila O'Brien Williams Barnes.

Dorothy Ann Purser is a screenwriter who was born in Hammond, Louisiana. Purser is best known for her work on the television series Days of Our Lives as the head writer and co-writer, and on the television series Guiding Light as head writer. She has been nominated for seven awards, and has received two including a Daytime Emmy.

References

  1. ↑ "Hendrickson To Return as "Maggie"". Soapcentral . Retrieved 2007-08-12.
  2. ↑ "Culliton Out As AMC's head writer". Soapcentral. Retrieved 2007-08-12.
  3. ↑ "Chit-Chat with R. Aaron Thomann". otg.mysuburbanlife.com. Retrieved 2009-11-15.[ permanent dead link ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.