Lowell Ganz

Lowell Ganz (born August 31, 1948 in New York, New York) is an American screenwriter, television writer, and television producer. He is the long-time writing partner of Babaloo Mandel.

Related Topics:
August 31 - 1948 - New York, New York - American - Screenwriter - Television writer - Television producer - Babaloo Mandel

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ganz grew up in Queens, New York. He dropped out of college and moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career writing for sitcoms, starting with The Odd Couple. From there, he moved on to writing for the beloved TV show Happy Days and created two of its spin-off series, Laverne and Shirley and Joanie Loves Chachi.

Related Topics:
Queens, New York - Los Angeles, California - Sitcoms - The Odd Couple - Happy Days - Laverne and Shirley - Joanie Loves Chachi

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1982, Ganz and Mandel teamed up with Happy Days actors Ron Howard--who wanted to start directing--and Henry Winkler--who wanted to move away from his image as the Fonz--to make their first film, a low-budget comedy called Night Shift, which was also actor Michael Keaton's first film. Ganz's second film outing, Splash, launched the careers of Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Related Topics:
Ron Howard - Henry Winkler - The Fonz - Night Shift - Michael Keaton - Splash - Tom Hanks - Daryl Hannah - Academy Award - Best Original Screenplay

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ganz and Mandel went on to write several other films, four more of which have also had Howard at the directing helm, and one of which had Penny Marshall, who starred in Laverne and Shirley, as director. Four of their films have featured Billy Crystal, two have featured Tom Hanks, and two are about baseball. Ganz and Mandel are also widely-used as Hollywood script doctors, known for their reliability and fast turnaround time.

Related Topics:
Penny Marshall - Billy Crystal - Tom Hanks - Baseball - Script doctors

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ganz lives in Los Angeles with his wife of more than 25 years. They have three children named Scott, Allie, and Simon.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~