David Jacobs (writer)
{{Short description|American television writer, producer, and director (1939–2023)}}
{{more footnotes|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = David Jacobs
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| occupation = Television writer, producer, and director
| years_active = 1975–2005
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1939|8|12}}
| birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|8|20|1939|8|12}}
| death_place = Burbank, California, U.S.
| spouse = Lynn Pleshette (? - ?) (divorced) (1 child)
Diana Jacobs (1977 - 2023; his death) (2 children)
| children = 3
| alma_mater = Maryland Institute College of Art
| notable_works = Dallas
Knots Landing
Paradise
}}
David Arnold Jacobs (August 12, 1939 – August 20, 2023) was an American television writer, producer, and director. He is most well known as the creator of the CBS primetime series Dallas, Knots Landing, and Paradise.
Life and career
David Jacobs was born on August 12, 1939 in Baltimore, Maryland, the elder of two children (with a younger sister named Susan) to Melvin and Ruth Jacobs.1950 US Census via Ancestry.com. His Jewish parents were of modest means, and Jacobs's father worked as a household appliance salesman.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}} Jacobs was educated at Baltimore City College High School, and received a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}} Soon after graduation, he moved to New York City, where he worked as an illustrator and researcher for Grolier's Encyclopedia.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}} He soon branched out as a freelance writer of nonfiction articles, the best known of which concerned the architect and inventor Buckminster Fuller.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}} He also wrote a children's book on the great artists of the Renaissance.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}}. In 1975 he co-wrote the non-fiction book "Police, a Precinct at Work", with Sara Ann Friedman. The book was a series of stories based upon 6 months of the authors' ride-alongs with police from NYPD's 24th precinct.
His marriage to actress Lynn Pleshette produced one child, his daughter Albyn, but ended in divorce. Later, he married his second wife Diana, with whom he had two children, Aaron and Molly.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}} Jacobs moved to Los Angeles to be closer to his daughter, and tried his hand at screenwriting.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}} His script for a proposed unnamed pilot mini series was later named Dallas. The mini series was so successful that the show was picked up as an on-going series and cemented his career as a writer and producer.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}}
Jacobs battled Alzheimer's disease in later years. He died of complications from a series of infections at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, on August 20, 2023. He was 84.{{cite news |last1=Koseluk |first1=Chris |title=David Jacobs, Creator of 'Dallas' and 'Knots Landing,' Dies at 84 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/david-jacobs-dead-dallas-knots-landing-1235572625/ |access-date=August 22, 2023 |publisher=The Hollywood Reporter |date=August 22, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2023/tv/obituaries-people-news/david-jacobs-dead-dallas-knots-landing-1235702660/|title=David Jacobs, 'Dallas' and 'Knots Landing' Creator, Dies at 84|first=Michaela|last=Zee|publisher=Variety|date=August 22, 2023|access-date=August 23, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2023/08/david-jacobs-dead-dallas-knots-landing-creator-1235525566/|title=David Jacobs Dies: 'Dallas' & 'Knots Landing' Creator Was 84|first=Erik|last=Pedersen|publisher=Deadline|date=August 22, 2023|access-date=August 23, 2023}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Creator ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Writer ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Producer ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Director |
| rowspan="1"|1977
| |align="center"|✓ | | |
| rowspan="1"|1977-1978
|Family, season 3 | |align="center"|✓ | | |
| rowspan="1"|1978-1979
|Dallas, seasons 1-3 |align="center"|✓ |align="center"|✓ | | |
| rowspan="1"|1979
|Kaz | |align="center"|✓ | | |
| rowspan="1"|1979
|align="center"|✓ |align="center"|✓ |align="center"|✓ | |
| rowspan="1"|1979-1993
|align="center"|✓ |align="center"|✓ |align="center"|✓ |align="center"|✓ |
| rowspan="1"|1980
| |align="center"|✓ |align="center"|✓ | |
| rowspan="1"|1982
| |align="center"|✓ |align="center"|✓ | |
| rowspan="1"|1982
| |align="center"|✓ | | |
| rowspan="1"|1984
|Lace | | |align="center"|✓ | |
| rowspan="1"|1985
| | |align="center"|✓ | |
| rowspan="1"|1986
| |align="center"|✓ |align="center"|✓ | |
| rowspan="1"|1988-1991
|align="center"|✓ |align="center"|✓ |align="center"|✓ |align="center"|✓ |
| rowspan="1"|1991-1993
| | |align="center"|✓ | |
| rowspan="1"|1992-1993
| |align="center"|✓ |align="center"|✓ | |
| rowspan="1"|1993
|The Knots Landing Block Party | | |align="center"|✓ | |
| rowspan="1"|1997
|Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac | | |align="center"|✓ | |
| rowspan="1"|1998
| | |align="center"|✓ | |
| rowspan="1"|2005
|Knots Landing Reunion: Together Again | | |align="center"|✓ | |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0414372|name=David Jacobs}}
- {{EmmyTVLegends name|david-jacobs|David Jacobs}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304232433/http://www.columbiacollege.edu/faculty-profile/david-jacobs David Jacobs] at Columbia College Hollywood
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, David}}
Category:American soap opera writers
Category:American male television writers
Category:Television producers from Maryland
Category:Jewish American screenwriters
Category:Jewish American television writers
Category:Writers from Baltimore
Category:Maryland Institute College of Art alumni
Category:Screenwriters from Maryland