Janis Hirsch (born c. 1950) is a comedy writer best known for producing and writing for television series, including Frasier, Will & Grace, My Wife and Kids, Anything But Love, LA Law, The Nanny, Til Death, Square Pegs, the National Lampoon show, Murphy Brown, and It's Garry Shandling's Show.
She has written books and for several publications including the New York Times and National Lampoon magazine.
Hirsch was born in Trenton, New Jersey, and was diagnosed with polio when she was 10 months old.
She is Jewish and was raised in Ewing Township, where she graduated from Ewing High School in 1968.
Hirsch wrote a condolence letter to Jackie Kennedy after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, when she was 13 years old.
Hirsch was raised in Ewing Township, where she graduated from Ewing High School in 1968. After that, she went to work as a manager for burlesque performer Ann Corio in Massachusetts.
Hirsch came to New York and began working for the National Lampoon television show, which evolved into a position at the National Lampoon magazine.
She wrote two of the first six episodes of It's Garry Shandling's Show, both of which won critical acclaim, but she was fired from the show shortly afterward due to scheduling conflicts.
Hirsch disclosed in the wake of substantial media coverage of Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations in 2017, that she had not chosen to leave her writing post.
After writing two critically acclaimed episodes (out of the first six) of It's Garry Shandling's Show, she was barred from attending meetings and was not allowed to write any roles, with the exception of a few solitary sequences with female characters on occasion.
She claimed that one day, while sitting opposite from Garry Shandling in his office, one of the performers from the show unexpectedly approached her from behind and placed his flaccid penis on her shoulder. She described the incident as follows:
Hirsch was forced to resign from her writing post the following day by producer Brad Grey, who did so without pay
Hirsch contributed to a variety of periodicals, including comic books and The New York Times, among others. She once loaned John Belushi $300 so that he could go to California for an audition for the film Animal House. She relocated to Los Angeles and began writing for Square Pegs magazine .
She has worked on shows such as Frasier, Will & Grace, My Wife and Kids, Anything But Love, L.A. Law, The Nanny, Murphy Brown, and 'Til Death.
She has also written for shows such as Frasier, Will & Grace, My Wife and Kids, Anything But Love, L.A. Law, and Murphy Brown.
Hirsch asserted that the acceptance of women in the industry has improved since her beginnings in the 1970sand has been credited with using her influence to demand that women not be ostracised or harassed on set.
Hirsch is a vocal supporter of several programmes aimed at helping people with polio, Alzheimer's disease, or disabilities.
Hirsch is a vocal supporter of several programmes aimed at helping people with polio, Alzheimer
They have two dogs and live in Los Angeles with her husband, Larry Shulman, and their two children .
