Bernard Slade
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Bernard Slade was a writer who proved you cannot typecast. He went from creating and writing some of the frothiest, silliest sitcoms in American TV history, (e.g., "The Flying Nun," "The Partridge Family") to writing insightful, thoughtful Broadway plays about relationships and love (e.g., "Same Time, Next Year," "Tribute").
Slade began his career as an actor in his native Canada, performing with the Garden Center Theatre in Vineland, Ontario. By 1954, he was producing plays for the theater as well. Within a few years he was penning episodes of anthology programs produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He even sold four scripts to the "U.S. Steel Hour." Slade did not abandon theater, either, and by the end of the 50s he had begun to write plays. "Simon Says, Get Married" was produced in 1959, followed by "A Very Close Family" (1961). By the mid-60s, however, he had decamped to Hollywood and turned to a career as a TV writer, working on many popular sitcoms of the day, including "Bewitched." In 1966, ABC gave Slade his first shot at creating a series and he came up with "Love on a Rooftop," which ran for one season and was similar in theme to Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park," featuring a young couple living in a windowless walk-up apartment that had access to a wonderful rooftop with a view of San Francisco. The following year, Slade created "The Flying Nun," which cast Sally Field as a novice in Puerto Rico who was able to use her habit's headgear to wing around with the birds. The writer went on to create several other sitcoms, including "The Partridge Family" (ABC, 1970-74) and "Bridget Loves Bernie" (CBS, 1972-73), a short-lived offering about a Jewish guy and a Irish-American Catholic girl who marry and try to mesh their families. (The uproar in the Jewish community about the condoned intermarriage contributed to its cancellation after one season.) Slade reteamed with Sally Field for "The Girl With Something Extra" (NBC 1973-74), which found the actress cast as the psychic wife of John Davidson.
Despite his modest success in TV, Slade returned to his first love in the mid-70s with "Same Time, Next Year," a gimmicky play about a man and a woman who are married to others, but annually meet for sex and conversation. The play proved to be a hit, due partly to the casting of leads Charles Grodin and Ellen Burstyn. Slade received a Drama Desk Award and Tony nomination for Outstanding Play. He followed with "Tribute" (1978), the story of a son who learns to loosen up and love the father who might not have always been there for him, but is beloved by everyone in the theater district. Again, aided by Jack Lemmon's leading performance, the show proved to be successful. His string of hits was ruptured with "Romantic Comedy" (1979), about a playwright who must stifle his feelings for his female writing partner. The lack of chemistry between leads Anthony Perkins and Mia Farrow hurt the show.
By then, Slade had found success adapting his plays for the screen. He had made his big screen debut with "Stand Up and Be Counted" (1972), a proto-feminist film starring Jacqueline Bisset. Slade earned an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of "Same Time, Next Year" (1979), which featured Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda. He also won praise for his screen version of "Tribute" (1980), with Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick and Robby Benson, but was less successful with "Romantic Comedy" (1983), which paired Mary Steenburgen and Dudley Moore. His subsequent projects have been more sporadic with the most notable being "Moving Day" (PBS, 1987), in which Candice Bergen played a divorced woman leaving the home in which she had spent the last 20 years.
Filmography
Writer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Writer (Special)
Special Thanks (Special)
Life Events
1954
Produced 25 plays for Garden Center Theatre
1957
Had first teleplay produced in USA on "U.S. Steel Hour"
1957
Wrote 15 episodes of anthology series for the Candian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
1959
Had first play, "Simon Says, Get Married", produced in Canada
1969
Wrote TV-movie "In Name Only" (ABC)
1972
First produced screenplay, "Stand Up and Be Counted"
1975
First play produced on Broadway, "Same Time, Next Year"
1978
Had second Broadway success with "Tribute"
1979
Wrote screen adaptation of play "Same Time, Next Year"; earned Oscar nomination
1980
Adapted "Tribute" as feature
1983
Scipted screen version of play "Romantic Comedy"
1987
Wrote PBS production, "Moving Day"
Family
Companions
