Yvette Lee Bowser | |
|---|---|
| Born | Yvette Denise Lee (1965-06-09)June 9, 1965 (age 60) Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Education | Stanford University (BA) |
| Occupations | Television producer, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Known for | A Different World Living Single For Your Love Half & Half Black-ish Dear White People Run the World |
| Spouse | |
Yvette Denise Lee Bowser (born June 9, 1965)[1] is an American television writer and producer best known for creating theFox sitcomLiving Single. WithLiving Single, she became the first African-American woman to develop her own primetime series.[2]
Bowser started onA Different World in 1987 as one of a number of apprentices, rising in prominence in the production company over the years and eventually becoming producer by the 1991–92 season.[3] She left the show to take a position withHangin' with Mr. Cooper.
Bowser created her own company, Sister Lee Productions, which produced or co-produced her later shows,Living Single andHalf & Half. She has said in an interview that she draws many of her characters and plots from her own and her friends' personal experiences.[4] She has said, "I just basically rip pages out of my diary to tell stories on TV."[5] In the case ofHalf & Half, for example, the writer based the characters Mona and Dee-Dee on herself and an older half-sister, and plot ideas came from her experience as the youngest child in a blended family.[5]
Through Sister Lee Productions, Bowser served asshowrunner[6] for the critically acclaimed Netflix seriesDear White People, adapted withJustin Simien from his film of the same name.[7][8][9][10] In 2020, she became the showrunner on the Starz original seriesRun the World, created byLeigh Davenport.[11][12]
Yvette Denise Lee was born inPhiladelphia in 1965.[13] She lived in the city'sCarroll Park neighborhood until age 5, when she and her mother moved to California.[14] Bowser graduated fromSanta Monica High School in 1983.[15] She attended withHolly Robinson, who was a part of theHangin' with Mr. Cooper cast and later starred inFor Your Love.[16] She also attended with her friendLori Petty, whom she later cast in her sitcomLush Life.[15]
After high school, Lee attendedStanford University where, in spring 1986, she pledged the Xi Beta chapter ofAlpha Kappa Alpha sorority.[17]
Yvette Lee married producer Kyle Bowser in 1994. The two worked together onLiving Single,Half & Half, andFor Your Love.[18]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–1992 | A Different World | Producer, Program Consultant | 25 episodes |
| 1993 | Hangin' with Mr. Cooper | Producer | 17 episodes |
| 1993 | The Wayans Bros. | Executive Consultant | 17 episodes |
| 1993–1998 | Living Single | Creator, Executive Producer | 105 episodes |
| 1996 | Lush Life | Creator, Executive Producer | 7 episodes |
| 1998–2002 | For Your Love | Creator, Executive Producer | 84 episodes |
| 2002–2006 | Half & Half | Executive Producer | 91 episodes |
| 2008–2009 | Lipstick Jungle | Consulting Producer | 11 episodes |
| 2012 | The Exes | Consulting Producer | 12 episodes |
| 2012–2013 | Happily Divorced | Consulting Producer | 12 episodes |
| 2014–2016 | Black-ish | Consulting Producer | 3 episodes |
| 2017–2019 | Dear White People | Executive Producer | 30 episodes |
| 2021 | Run the World | Executive Producer | 8 episodes |
I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at theUniversity of Pennsylvania, in 1965.
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