David Lloyd, 75, Dies; Wrote ‘Chuckles’ Episode
David Lloyd, who wrote scores of scripts for some of the most popular television sitcoms of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s — including the memorable Chuckles the Clown episode of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” which was revered by comedy connoisseurs for wringing belly laughs from a funeral — died Tuesday at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 75.
The cause was prostate cancer, which was diagnosed 21 years ago, his son Christopher said.
Mr. Lloyd was an astonishingly productive writer by series television standards, not only generating scripts on his own but also working with other writers to doctor scripts in trouble. In addition to “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” for which he had credits on more than 30 episodes between 1973 and 1977, Mr. Lloyd wrote for, among other shows, “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Lou Grant,” “Rhoda,” “Phyllis,” “The Tony Randall Show,” “The Associates,” “Taxi,” “Dear John,” “Amen,” “Wings,” “Cheers” and “Frasier.”
In a trade where some are strongest in writing jokes and repartee, others in building characters and still others in shaping stories, Mr. Lloyd was gifted across the board.
“His own work was always in great shape, and he was very helpful on other people’s scripts,” said Bob Ellison, who worked with Mr. Lloyd on “Mary Tyler Moore,” “The Bob Newhart Show” and others. “He lit up the writer’s room when he came in. And that’s a big part of the job, bringing the room to life, resuscitating it.”
He was also the creator of the series “Brothers,” which ran for several seasons in the 1980s on the cable network Showtime after being rejected by broadcast networks because a main character was gay.
“He was maybe the most highly respected television comedy writer of all time, and very likely the most prolific,” said Les Charles, a producer of “Cheers,” “Taxi” and “Frasier,” among other shows. “He was the first writer we asked to write for ‘Cheers.’ ” He added: “You get an episodic writer to give you four or five shows a season, that’s tremendous. David would do 10 or 12.”
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The cause was prostate cancer, which was diagnosed 21 years ago, his son Christopher said.
Mr. Lloyd was an astonishingly productive writer by series television standards, not only generating scripts on his own but also working with other writers to doctor scripts in trouble. In addition to “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” for which he had credits on more than 30 episodes between 1973 and 1977, Mr. Lloyd wrote for, among other shows, “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Lou Grant,” “Rhoda,” “Phyllis,” “The Tony Randall Show,” “The Associates,” “Taxi,” “Dear John,” “Amen,” “Wings,” “Cheers” and “Frasier.”
In a trade where some are strongest in writing jokes and repartee, others in building characters and still others in shaping stories, Mr. Lloyd was gifted across the board.
“His own work was always in great shape, and he was very helpful on other people’s scripts,” said Bob Ellison, who worked with Mr. Lloyd on “Mary Tyler Moore,” “The Bob Newhart Show” and others. “He lit up the writer’s room when he came in. And that’s a big part of the job, bringing the room to life, resuscitating it.”
He was also the creator of the series “Brothers,” which ran for several seasons in the 1980s on the cable network Showtime after being rejected by broadcast networks because a main character was gay.
“He was maybe the most highly respected television comedy writer of all time, and very likely the most prolific,” said Les Charles, a producer of “Cheers,” “Taxi” and “Frasier,” among other shows. “He was the first writer we asked to write for ‘Cheers.’ ” He added: “You get an episodic writer to give you four or five shows a season, that’s tremendous. David would do 10 or 12.”