Barbara Corday

Barbara Corday (born October 15, 1944) is an American television executive, writer and producer known for co-creating the television series Cagney & Lacey. Early life and education Corday was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City on October 15, 1944, the only child of Josephine "Josie" (née Rich) and Leo Corday. Her parents were both worked in the entertainment business: her mother was a professional singer and dancer, and her father wrote songs and jingles and was an editor of the Jewish Daily Forward. She graduated from Montebello High School in 1955. Her parents divorced when she was a teenager. She then moved to Miami with her mother where they had family and attended North Miami High School. After high school, at the age of 16, she moved back to New York City and worked as a receptionist for the Max Richards Theatrical agency which acted as an employment agency for actors. Work After a year working as a receptionist, a family friend got her a job as a publicist at Mo Braveman Associates that represented nightclubs, singers, performers; she later went to work for Dorothy Ross Associates which represented Broadway shows. She credits her publicist background with learning how to write on demand. She moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s after Henry C. Rogers approached her and her husband Michael Gershman (who was also a publicist) and asked them to start a music department for Rogers & Cowan particularly in representing Rock bands. She had to step down from the role because she became pregnant with her daughter. In 1972, Corday joined and worked as a publicist for the anti-war organization Another Mother for Peace where she met its founder, Barbara Avedon who was also a new mom. Avedon got their foot in the door with their projects because she had prior experience working on TV series like The Donna Reed Show, Father Knows Best, The Danny Thomas Show, The Ann Sothern Show, Margie, Gidget, Medical Center and That Girl. Danny Arnold hired them to write a script for a Barbara Eden pilot (which never went to development). They worked so well together, they officially became writing partners. From 1972 to 1979, they wrote several episodes for television series and a few pilots as free-lance writers including 19 episodes of Fish, 4 episodes of Sons and Daughters, Executive Suite, Wonder Woman, Maude, and Turnabout (where they met Sharon Gless).