Television writer Ed Simmons' impressive career was highlighted by five Emmy Awards and six additional nominations. He started out in the 1950s, working with writer Norman Lear, who would go on to become an influential, innovative television producer during the 1970s. Together, they reworked an earlier comedy, The Ghost Breakers, into the Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis feature Scared Stiff (1953). On television, the duo wrote for The Martha Raye Show and the Colgate Comedy Hour, again starring Martin and Lewis. When the comedians parted, it was Simmons who provided Martin with his first solo material. Writing without Lear, Simmons penned sketches and monologues for Red Skelton, Carol Burnett, and others during the 1960s and 1970s. Simmons also penned scripts for such shows as Welcome Back Kotter.
by Sandra Brennan
biography
