Cynthia Whitcomb is a television writer that has been nominated for numerous awards including the Emmy

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

, the Edgar and the Humanitas Prize

Humanitas Prize

The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing intended to promote human dignity, meaning, and freedom. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser — also the founder of Paulist Productions — but is generally not seen as specifically directed toward religious...

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Background

In 1969, Whitcomb graduated from Pasadena High School

Pasadena High School (Pasadena, California)

-History:The school was first established as a district school in 1884 and became Pasadena High School in 1891. In 1928, the school merged into Pasadena Junior College and operated as a four-year school, grades 11, 12, 13 and 14. Pasadena realigned its 6-4-4 school system in 1954 with Pasadena High...

 in Pasadena, California

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

 where she studied drama under Abel Franco. While she was a freshman at UCLA

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

, Franco gave her one of her first professional writing assignments. She received $25 in advance and $25 upon completion to write, "Here," a spoof of the musical, Hair

Hair (musical)

Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...

. However, the play was never produced due to censorship

Censorship

thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...

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Writing

Year	Production	Network	Notes
1999	Selma, Lord, Selma Selma, Lord, Selma Selma, Lord, Selma is a 1999 American film based on true events that happened in March of 1965, known as Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. The film tells the story through the eyes of an 11-year-old African American girl named Sheyann Webb . It premiered as a television movie on ABC on January 17,...	ABC	Adaptation of the 1997 book by Sheyann Webb, Rachel West and Frank Sikora. Nominated for the Humanitas Prize Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing intended to promote human dignity, meaning, and freedom. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser — also the founder of Paulist Productions — but is generally not seen as specifically directed toward religious...
1991	Mark Twain and Me	Disney Channel	Based on the book by Dorothy Quick. Nominated for the Humanitas Prize Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing intended to promote human dignity, meaning, and freedom. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser — also the founder of Paulist Productions — but is generally not seen as specifically directed toward religious...
1989	I Know My First Name Is Steven Steven Stayner Steven Gregory Stayner was an American kidnap victim. Stayner was abducted from the Northern California city and county of Merced, California at the age of seven and held until he was 14, when he escaped and rescued another victim, Timothy White, in 1980...	NBC	Written with J.P. Miller. Nominated for an Emmy Award Emmy Award An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
1983	Jane Doe	CBS	Written with Walter Halsey Davis. Nominated for an Edgar Award
1981	Leave 'em Laughing	CBS	Credited as Cynthia Mandelberg and written with Peggy Chantler Dick. Nominated for the Humanitas Prize Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing intended to promote human dignity, meaning, and freedom. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser — also the founder of Paulist Productions — but is generally not seen as specifically directed toward religious...

Writing

Year	Production	Theatre	Notes
1982	Looking-Glass	Entermedia Theatre	Credited as Cynthia Mandelberg and written with Michael Sutton Michael Sutton (playwright) Michael Sutton is an American playwright, television writer, novelist and computer instructor.Born Michael Fossen in Pasadena, California, he adopted the name of his mother's second husband at an early age, following her divorce from his birth father.In 1979, he was commissioned by an agent-friend...