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David E. Kelley Biography

Birth Name:David Edward Kelley

Birth Place:Waterville, Maine, United States

Profession Writer, Producer, Actor

Fast Facts

Inducted into the Television Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame in early 2014
Won the Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement from the Writers Guild of America in 2003
Worked at a Boston law firm dealing with real estate and minor criminal cases while writing screenplays as a hobby
Quote: "I tend to be a little grand in terms of storytelling․ I've never been limited by anybody's sense of reality․"
Writes his first drafts longhand on a yellow legal pad with a metal Bic ballpoint pen, collaborating little with others
Writes episodes with multiple storylines, some of which are self-contained, but others of which may stretch through several episodes or an entire season
His senior thesis was a study of the Bill of Rights written as a play in which each bill was a character with a distinct personality
Was a stick boy for the New England Whalers while his father, Jack Kelley, coached the team, and was the captain of his hockey team at Princeton University

Awards

1988Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series: nominated
1988Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series: nominated
1988Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Drama Series: nominated
1988WGA Award (TV)-Episodic Drama: nominated
1989Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Drama Series: winner
1989Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series: nominated
1989Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series: nominated
1989Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series: nominated
1989WGA Award (TV)-Episodic Drama: nominated
1990Edgar-Best Television Episode: nominated
1990Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series: nominated
1990Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Drama Series: winner
1990Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series: winner
1990WGA Award (TV)-Episodic Drama: nominated
1991Edgar-Best Television Episode: nominated
1991Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Drama Series: winner
1991Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series: winner
1991Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series: nominated
1991WGA Award (TV)-Episodic Drama: nominated
1991WGA Award (TV)-Episodic Drama: nominated
1993Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Drama Series: winner
1994Edgar-Best Television Episode: nominated
1994Humanitas Prize-60 Minute Category: nominated
1994Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Drama Series: winner
1994WGA Award (TV)-Episodic Drama: nominated
1995Humanitas Prize-60 Minute Category: nominated
1995Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Drama Series: nominated
1996Humanitas Prize-60 Minute Category: winner
1996Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Drama Series: nominated
1996WGA Award (TV)-Episodic Drama: nominated
1998Edgar-Best Television Episode: nominated
1998Monitor-Film Originated Television Series - Best Achievement: winner
1998Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series: nominated
1998Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Drama Series: winner
1998Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Comedy Series: nominated
1998Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series: nominated
1999BAFTA TV Award-Best International (Programme or Series): nominated
1999PGA Award-Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television: winner
1999Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series: nominated
1999Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Drama Series: winner
1999Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Comedy Series: winner
1999TCA Award-Individual Achievement in Drama: winner
1999WGA Award (TV)-Episodic Drama: nominated
2000Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Drama Series: nominated
2001Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Drama Series: nominated
2002Edgar-Best Television Episode: nominated
2002Humanitas Prize-60 Minute Category: winner
2003Humanitas Prize-60 Minute Category: winner
2004Edgar-Best Television Episode Teleplay: winner
2006PGA Award-Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama: nominated
2007Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Drama Series: nominated
2008Humanitas Prize-60 Minute Category: nominated
2008Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Drama Series: nominated
2009PGA Award-Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama: nominated
2013Humanitas Prize-60 Minute Category: nominated
2017Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or a Dramatic Special: nominated
2017Primetime Emmy-Outstanding Limited Series: winner
2018PGA Award-Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama: nominated
2018USC Scripter Award-Television: nominated
2018WGA Award (TV)-Long Form - Adaptation: winner
2020Gold Derby TV Award-Drama Episode: nominated
2020PGA Award-Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama: nominated
2021PGA Award-Outstanding Producer of Limited Series Television: nominated
2021Magnolia Award-Best Foreign TV Film/Miniseries: nominated
2022HCA Award-Best Writing in a Streaming Series, Drama: nominated
2025WGA Award (TV)-Limited Series: nominated