Susan Harris
Harris at the White House in 1999
Born	Susan Spivak (1940-10-28)October 28, 1940 (age 85) Mount Vernon, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Producer, writer
Years active	1970–1999
Spouses	Berkeley Harris ​ ​ (m. 1965; div. 1969)​ Paul Junger Witt ​ ​ (m. 1983; died 2018)​
Children	2, includingSam
Relatives	Marion Segal Freed (step-sister)

Susan Harris (néeSpivak; born October 28, 1940) is an American former television writer and producer who created theEmmy Award-winning sitcomsSoap (1977–1981) andThe Golden Girls (1985–1992).^[1] Between 1975 and 1998, Harris was one of the most prolific television writers, creating 13 comedy series.^[2] In 2011, she was inducted into theTelevision Hall of Fame.

The first script Harris sold was forThen Came Bronson. She then wrote forLove, American Style,All in the Family,The Partridge Family and the TV adaptation ofNeil Simon'sBarefoot in the Park. Her abortion episode for theBea Arthur-starring seriesMaude in the 1970s received great acclaim. She worked with Arthur again in the 1980s when Arthur took one of the lead roles inThe Golden Girls.

Harris created many television series:Fay,Soap,Loves Me, Loves Me Not,Benson,It Takes Two,The Golden Girls,Empty Nest,Nurses,Good & Evil,The Golden Palace andThe Secret Lives of Men.^[3] Her most financially successful show wasThe Golden Girls.

Harris was diagnosed withchronic fatigue syndrome and her symptoms affected her ability to participate in the production ofThe Golden Girls. In an episode of that show titled "Sick and Tired" (1989), Harris wrote some of her struggles into the storyline where Bea Arthur's characterDorothy Zbornak was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. It later turned out Harris had anadrenal issue but she wrote the episode as "my revenge script for all the people out there who had a disease like that".^[4]

Harris formed the production companyWitt/Thomas/Harris Productions with Paul Junger Witt andTony Thomas.

Harris married television producerPaul Junger Witt on September 18, 1983; he co-produced all the shows she created. He died in 2018. She was married from 1965 to 1969 to actor Berkeley Harris; the couple's son is author and neuroscientistSam Harris. She lives in suburban Los Angeles. Harris was the step-sister to American film producer, editor and screenwriterMarion Segal Freed.^[5]

She was honored with the Writers' Guild'sPaddy Chayefsky Award in 2005 and inducted into theTelevision Academy Hall of Fame in 2011.^[6]

Harris was born to aJewish family inMount Vernon, New York. She is the mother of Americanphilosopher,neuroscientist, author, andpodcast hostSam Harris.

• Susan Harris atIMDb
• Museum of Broadcast Communications profile of Susan Harris (archive)

• 1940 births
• Living people
• 21st-century American Jews
• 21st-century American women writers
• 20th-century American women writers
• American comedy writers
• American television writers
• American women in business
• American women television producers
• American women television writers
• Businesspeople from New York (state)
• Jewish American comedy writers
• Jewish American television writers
• Jewish American women writers
• People with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome
• Screenwriters from New York (state)
• Television producers from New York (state)
• American television show creators
• Writers from Mount Vernon, New York

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