Alan Zweibel

Alan Zweibel (born 1950) is a producer and writer on such productions as "Saturday Night Live", PBS' "Great Performances", and "It's Garry Shandling's Show".

Born in Brooklyn, Zweibel grew up on Long Island in the New York City suburbs of Wantagh and Woodmere. [Capuzzo, Jill P. [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/12/nyregion/12NJ.html "From 'Saturday Night Live' to '700 Sundays'"] , "The New York Times", December 12, 2004. Accessed September 17, 2008. "As the funny kid in the neighborhood, Mr. Zweibel - born in Brooklyn and reared in Woodmere, on Long Island - first tried his hand at writing jokes while at the University of Buffalo, mailing them to Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett"] He graduated from George W. Hewlett High School in 1968 and The University at Buffalo, The State University of New York in 1972. [McGee, Celia. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D05E7DC1430F93AA35750C0A961958260 "How to Mourn a Friend? One Way Is With a Play"] , "The New York Times", March 9, 1997. Accesed May 21, 2008. "Mr. Zweibel harbored secret ambitions to write as far back as his days as "a jock" at Hewlett High School on Long Island. After graduation from the University of Buffalo...."]

He co-wrote the movie "Dragnet" and articles for magazines such as "Mad", "The New Yorker", "The Atlantic Monthly" and Esquire. [ [http://www.thestoryofus.net/zweibel.html The Story of Us: Alan Zwiebel] , accessed October 3, 2006] , http://www.alanzweibel.com/about.htm] He has written several books including "North" (which became a movie), "Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner – A Sort of Love Story" (about to become a feature film for HBO films), the children’s book "Our Tree Named Steve" and the novel "The Other Shulman".

His work has also appeared on Broadway or Off Broadway. His collaboration with Billy Crystal, "700 Sundays", won a Tony Award. "Between Cars", "Comic Dialogue", "Happy" and "Bunny Bunny" were all produced Off Broadway.

On SNL, he helped to create the characters of Roseanne Roseannadanna and Emily Litella, both played by Gilda Radner. In fact, on "Weekend Update", Radner read letters from Richard Feder who in real life is Zweibel's brother-in-law and does in fact live in Fort Lee, New Jersey. [ [http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk0NSZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NjcyMDc2MiZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTM= Once again, Ft. Lee is writer's fodder] , "The Record (Bergen County)", July 8, 2005 ]

Zweibel was a feature player on Saturday Night Live for its fifth season (1979-1980 season). His celebrity impersonations include Roger Smith, Marlon Brando (as his Colonel Kurtz character from "Apocalypse Now"), and Gary Morton (http://snl.jt.org/cast.php?i=AlZw).

Zweibel has won five Emmies, six Ace Awards, and two Writers Guild of America Awards. [ [http://www.alanzweibel.com/about.htm Author/Screenwriter/TV Writer/Playwright/All-Around Great Guy] , accessed December 17, 2006] In November 2006, he won the Thurber Prize for American Humor for his novel "The Other Shulman". [ [http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003353305 'SNL' Alum Alan Zweibel Wins Thurber Prize] , "The Book Standard", November 7, 2006]

References

External links

* [http://www.alanzweibel.com/ Official Website]
* [http://imdb.com/name/nm0958993/ IMDB Database]