David E. Kelley

At 68 years old, David E. Kelley has this physical status:

David Edward Kelley, born April 4, 1956), an American television writer and producer best known for his creation of Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Boston Legal, Harry's Law, Big Little Lies, and several others.

Kelley is one of the few screenwriters to have scripted shows on all four major commercial television networks in the United States (ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC).

Early life

Kelley was born in Waterville, Maine, was raised in Belmont, Massachusetts, and attended the Belmont Hill School. Jack Kelley, a member of the United States Ice Hockey Hall of Fame, is his father. Kelley was a stick boy for the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association in their inaugural season, 1972-1973, when his father coached the team. Kelley was captain of the Princeton University men's ice hockey team, where he graduated in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in political science.

In his junior year at Princeton, Kelley wrote a paper about John F. Kennedy's plan to murder Fidel Castro, which was written as a poem. He converted the Bill of Rights into a play for his senior thesis. "I made every amendment into a character," the author said. "The First Amendment is a loudmouth guy who will not shut down." All he wanted to talk about was his gun collection, and he wanted to discuss it. The 10th Amendment, the one in which they say leave the rest for the states to determine, was a man of no self-confidence." He was also a member of the Princeton Triangle Club while at Princeton.

He was awarded his Juris Doctor (J.D.) From Boston University School of Law, where he wrote for the Legal Follies, a Boston University law student sketch comedy troupe based on Boston University law students and which also hosts annual performances. He began working for a Boston law firm, mainly dealing with real estate and minor criminal matters.

Kelley began writing a screenplay, a procedural drama, that was optioned in 1986 and later became Judd Nelson's film From the Hip in 1987, despite considering it was only a hobby.

Portrayal of real life

The Practice was considered more accurate in its representation of the law than that of L.A. or Ally McBeal. The truth of the matter, as well as the benefits of a legal plan, rang true. "I]t's really about the tactics and the mistakes that opposing counsel makes," one lawyer said. Judges were often depicted as complex, less-than-perfect human beings, with occasional emotional difficulties. Plots outlined how a defendant's behavior could influence the decision of a lawsuit. "[The Practice] isn't afraid to portray the firm's clients as the dregs of society," Variety magazine's Stuart Levine said.

Kelley said,

Other aspects of Kelley's legal career have been criticized as unintended.

Attorneys have complained that:

Samuel G. Freedman, a Columbia University journalism professor, praises Kelley's book Boston Public as an effort to both reflect and change public opinion about public education, particularly the urban, overburdened, underfunded variety. He liked the realistic setting, the faculty's mixed ethnicity, and (most times antipathetic) student body, as well as the bureaucratic struggles. He chastised Kelley for pandering to teacher and student stereotypes and failing to demonstrate effective teaching methods.

Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, thought that medical dramas such as Kelley's Chicago Hope do a good job of addressing bioethical concerns such as whether a patient should have a liver transplant or when should a patient be allowed to die. However, there is also a lack of discussion surrounding the primary money issue: "How can people pay for this?" The show has been chastised for presenting a one-sided view of managed care, portraying HMOs as horrific while ignoring the truth. Doctors are too often portrayed as selfless patient advocates who are eager to face whatever the financial cost is.

Kelley has included issues involving Protestantism, Judaism, Scientology, and Catholicism among other topics. Kelley began to weave this controversy into his scripts due to widespread media coverage of child sexual abuse cases in the Roman Catholic Church during the mid-to-late 1990s. For example, the character of Bobby Donnell on The Practice, a Catholic priest, became estranged from the Church because of sexually assaulted priests. Although the Catholic League did not object to this episode, they did not object to this episode, but Kelley's shows often complained of anti-Catholic bias because of his mentions of this topic.

Personal life

Although Kelley is often thought to be Catholic because his Catholic programs address Catholic causes, he was raised as a Protestant.

Kelley was on a blind date with actress Michelle Pfeiffer in January 1993; the following week, he took her to see the Bram Stoker's Dracula film, and the pair began dating seriously.

Pfeiffer had started private adoption before meeting Kelley. Claudia Rose, her newborn daughter, was adopted in March 1993. They married on November 13, 1993, and christened Claudia the same day. Pfeiffer gave birth to John Henry, the son of the family.

Mark Kelley, David's brother, is the current Amateur Scouting Director for the Chicago Blackhawks.

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