Early life

Jay Steven Kogen was born on May 3rd, 1963 in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. He is the son of Mad

Mad (magazine)

Mad is an American humor magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the entire cultural landscape of the 20th century.The last...

writer Arnie Kogen

Arnie Kogen

Arnie Kogen is an American comedy writer and producer. He had written for TV, film, and a longtime writer for Mad Magazine.Born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Kogen contributed to Mad soon after college at New York University...

, and Sue Kogen (née

NEE

NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...

 Hirsch). His paternal grandparents, Samuel Kogen and Pauline Gorin, were Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 (now Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

), while his maternal grandparents, Harold Hirsch and Ida "Chicky" Ellenberg, also Jewish, were born in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. On his father's side, he is a distant relative of 1930's actor John Garfield

John Garfield

John Garfield was an American actor adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles. He grew up in poverty in Depression-era New York City and in the early 1930s became an important member of the Group Theater. In 1937 he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of Warner...

.

In 1968 his family relocated to Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. In 1981 he graduated from Birmingham High School

Birmingham High School

Birmingham Community Charter High School is a public coeducational high school in the neighborhood/district of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles, California, United States...

.

Career

He has co-written several episodes of The Tracey Ullman Show

The Tracey Ullman Show

The Tracey Ullman Show was an American television variety show, hosted by British comedian and onetime pop singer Tracey Ullman. It debuted on April 5, 1987 as the Fox network's second primetime series after Married... with Children, and ran until May 26, 1990. The show blended sketch comedy shorts...

and The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

along with former writing partner Wallace Wolodarsky

Wallace Wolodarsky

Wallace Wolodarsky is an American television writer and director. He wrote for The Simpsons during the first four seasons; all of his episodes were co-written with former writing partner Jay Kogen...

. Since then, he has written for several shows, including 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...

 winning stint at Frasier

Frasier

Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...

, Everybody Loves Raymond

Everybody Loves Raymond

Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of lead actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the show's writing staff...

, George Lopez

George Lopez

George Lopez is an American comedian, actor, and talk show host. He is mostly known for starring in his self-produced ABC sitcom George Lopez. His stand-up comedy examines race and ethnic relations, including the Mexican American culture...

, and Malcolm in the Middle

Malcolm in the Middle

Malcolm in the Middle is an American television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Network. The series was first broadcast on January 9, 2000, and ended its six-and-a-half-year run on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes...

. Kogen also made an appearance in The Aristocrats

The Aristocrats (film)

The Aristocrats is a 2005 documentary film about the famous dirty joke of the same name. It was conceived and produced by comedians Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza, edited by Emery Emery, and released to theaters by TH!NKFilm...

. He was a consulting producer on The Class, co-writer of the Dave Foley

Dave Foley

David Scott "Dave" Foley is a Canadian comedian, writer, director, and producer best known for his work in The Kids in the Hall, NewsRadio, A Bug's Life, and Celebrity Poker Showdown...

/David Anthony Higgins

David Anthony Higgins

David Anthony Higgins is an American comedic actor, best known for playing the roles of Craig Feldspar from Malcolm in the Middle and Mr. Bitters from Big Time Rush....

 1997 film The Wrong Guy

The Wrong Guy

The Wrong Guy is a 1997 Canadian comedy film directed by David Steinberg. It was co-written by Dave Foley of The Kids in the Hall and Newsradio fame, along with David Anthony Higgins and Jay Kogen...

, as well as being a former stand-up comedian.

My World and Welcome to It

My World and Welcome to It

My World and Welcome to It was a US-made half-hour sitcom based on the humor and cartoons of James Thurber. It starred William Windom as John Monroe, a Thurber-like writer and cartoonist who works for a magazine that closely resembles The New Yorker, called The Manhattanite...

: Executive Producer

Executive producer

An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...

s are Jay Kogen, Kim Tannenbaum, Barry Sonnenfeld

Barry Sonnenfeld

Barry Sonnenfeld is an American filmmaker and television director. He worked as cinematographer for the Coen brothers, then later he directed and produced big budget films such as Men in Black.-Life and career:...

 & Mitch Hurwitz. Comedy based on James Thurber

James Thurber

James Grover Thurber was an American author, cartoonist and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories published in The New Yorker magazine.-Life:...

's collection of essays about being a dad in the 1960s. Production: Sony Pictures Television

Sony Pictures Television

Sony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...

 & Tantamount.

In 2009, He started working on the Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon (TV channel)

Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...

 TV series The Troop

The Troop

The Troop is an American-Canadian live-action, single camera comedy-adventure television series about a trio of teenagers who fight and capture monsters and other supernatural phenomena that invade the fictional town of Lakewood...

, and he is working on a pilot for a Disney show called Pack of Wolves.

Personal life & family

Kogen married Lynn "Brown" Mandell (better known as Brown Kogen) on May 31, 1997. They currently reside in Bel Air, California with their son, Charlie (b. 2001).

Filmography

The Simpsons

• "Homer's Odyssey"
• "Krusty Gets Busted
  Krusty Gets Busted
  "Krusty Gets Busted" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons first season, and originally aired on April 29, 1990. The episode was written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky, and directed by Brad Bird. In the episode, Krusty the Clown, a famous TV comedian, is convicted of the armed robbery of the...
  
  "
• "Treehouse of Horror
  Treehouse of Horror
  "Treehouse of Horror" is the third episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 25, 1990. The episode was inspired by 1950s horror comics, and begins with a disclaimer that it may be too scary for children. It is the first of a...
  
  "
• "Bart the Daredevil
  Bart the Daredevil
  "Bart the Daredevil" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons second season and aired on December 6, 1990. It was written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky and directed by Wes Archer. In the episode, the Simpsons go to a Monster truck rally that features famous daredevil Lance Murdock. Bart...
  
  "
• "Old Money"
• "Like Father, Like Clown
  Like Father, Like Clown
  "Like Father, Like Clown" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 24, 1991. In the episode, Krusty the Clown reveals to the Simpson family that he is of Jewish heritage, and that his father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofski,...
  
  "
• "Lisa the Greek
  Lisa the Greek
  "Lisa the Greek" is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 23, 1992. In the episode, Homer begins to bond with his daughter, Lisa, after learning her unique and convenient ability to pick winning American football...
  
  "
• "Bart's Friend Falls in Love
  Bart's Friend Falls in Love
  "Bart's Friend Falls in Love" is the twenty-third episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 7, 1992. In the episode, Bart's best friend Milhouse falls in love with the new girl in school, Samantha Stankey. Milhouse and Samantha spend...
  
  "
• "Treehouse of Horror III
  Treehouse of Horror III
  "Treehouse of Horror III" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons fourth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 29, 1992. In the third annual Treehouse of Horror episode, Homer buys Bart an evil talking Krusty doll, King Homer is captured by Mr. Burns, and Bart...
  
  "
• "Last Exit to Springfield
  Last Exit to Springfield
  "Last Exit to Springfield" is the seventeenth episode of The Simpsons fourth season which originally aired March 11, 1993. It was directed by Mark Kirkland and was the last episode written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky...
  
  "

Malcolm in the Middle

• "Tiki Lounge"
• "College Recruiters"
• "Hal's Dentist"

External links