Bob Randall & Gary Pratt
Bob Randall won a 1994 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Miniseries or a Special for David's Mother.
David's Mother is a 1994 American television film directed by Robert Allan Ackerman and stars Kirstie Alley as a devoted mother trying to cope with her autistic teenage son David (Michael Goorjian). The film aired on CBS on April 10, 1994, it has also aired internationally. In the UK it can often be seen on television movie channels True Movies 1 and True Movies 2. It has also been released in home entertainment formats in countries including the United States, UK and Australia.
The film has received several awards and nominations. Kirstie Alley and Michael Goorjian both received Emmy Awards for their roles in the film, Alley was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
Bob Randall, the author of the Broadway comedy "6 Rms Riv Vu" and the head writer and co-producer of the television series "Kate and Allie," died on February 11, 1995, at his home in New Milford, Conn. He was 57.
The cause was AIDS, said Gary Pratt, his companion. Randall and Pratt were companion for 15 years, until Randall's death in 1995.
Randall, whose original name was Stanley B. Goldstein, was born in the Bronx. He attended the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan, earned a bachelor's degree from New York University, and acted with a Gilbert and Sullivan troupe for four years before becoming a copy writer and associate creative director at the Marschalk advertising agency. He had worked there for 10 years when "6 Rms Riv Vu," about two strangers locked in a Riverside Drive apartment, opened on Broadway in 1972. Clive Barnes, in his review in The New York Times, called the play "as cheerful as a rising souffle," and the Drama Desk named Mr. Randall the most promising playwright of the year.
AIDS Quilt
Bob Randall won a 1994 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Miniseries or a Special for David's Mother. He was also the author of the Broadway comedy "6 Rms Riv Vu" and the head writer and co-producer of the television series "Kate and Allie," died on February 11, 1995. He was 57. The cause was AIDS, said Gary Pratt, his companion. Randall and Pratt were companion for 15 years. Pratt died in 2000. He is survived by two stepchildren, Julia and Edward Randall, whom he helped rear.
Randall adapted the play for a television special in 1974 that starred Alan Alda and Carol Burnett. In 1974, his musical "The Magic Show," written for the magician Doug Henning, opened at the Cort Theater.
Randall also wrote three suspense novels: "The Fan" (1977), a mystery that was made into a film starring Lauren Bacall; "The Next" (1981), and "The Calling" (1981).
In addition to his work on "Kate and Allie," from 1984 to 1988, he wrote for the CBS series "On Our Own" (1977) and the television movie "David's Mother" (1994), which he adapted from his 1991 play of the same name. "Goodbye, Lou," a television drama he wrote for CBS, was scheduled to go into production posthumously in spring 1995. He also wrote the screenplay for "Zorro: The Gay Blade" (1981).
Gary R. Pratt, formerly of New Preston Hill, New Milford, CT, died in Palm Springs, CA on October 18, 2000. Born in Greensburg, PA, on June 20, 1950. Gary Pratt was an officer in Bob Randall Productions, helping his life partner with many creative projects, including the long-running TV series Kate & Allie. He is survived by two stepchildren, Julia and Edward Randall of New York City, whom he helped rear.
Source: www.nytimes.com/1995/02/14/obituaries/bob-randall-57-tv-producer-and-broadway-playwright.html
Further Readings:
The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV by Stephen Tropiano
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books (May 1, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1557835578
ISBN-13: 978-1557835574
Amazon: The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV
Amazon Kindle: The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV
Television history was made on April 30, 1997, when comedian Ellen DeGeneres and her sitcom alter-ego Ellen Morgan, "came out" to her close friends and 36 million viewers. This groundbreaking episode represented a significant milestone in Amerian television. For the first time, a TV series centered around a lesbian character who was portrayed by an openly gay actor. The millions of viewers who tuned in that historic night were witnesses to a new era in television. THE PRIME TIME CLOSET offers an entertaining and in-depth glimpse into homosexuality on television from the 1950s through today. Divided into four sections, each devoted to a major television genre, this unique book explores how gay men and lesbians have been depicted in over three hundred television episodes and made-for-TV films. These include medical series, police/detective shows, situation comedies and TV dramas. THE PRIME TIME CLOSET also reveals how television's treatement of homosexuality has reflected and reinforced society's ignorance about and fear of gay men and lesbians. At the same time, it celebrates programs like Ellen and Will & Grace that have broken new ground in their sensitive and enlightened approach to homosexuality and gay-related themes. This book is witty and insightful, accessible and illuminating, a look into what has become an integral part of American media culture.
More LGBT Couples at my website: www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance
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