Jerry Stahl

Jerry Stahl (born September 28, 1953) is an American novelist and screenwriter. His father, David Henry Stahl, immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union; he served a term as Attorney General of Pennsylvania and was later appointed as a federal judge. David had previously worked as a coal miner.

At the age of 16, Stahl was sent to a boarding prep school near Philadelphia.

He would go on to become a writer for the 1980s TV series ALF, Thirtysomething, and Moonlighting. He has also acted in seven films. According to Stahl, Johnny Depp has optioned the film rights for I, Fatty. Stahl edited The Heroin Chronicles (Akashic Books 2013), a collection of stories by various authors.

Stahl has also written a number of CSI episodes which deal with transgressive topics and have been some of the most controversial but also gained some of the highest ratings. He introduced the dominatrix character Lady Heather, who has appeared in a number of episodes, the first of which, "Slaves of Las Vegas", featured viewer discretion advisory warning, due to nudity and sexual content. Stahl has been criticised for his inaccurate portrayal of furries in "Fur and Loathing". However, while earlier episodes of CSI had been criticised for the treatment of transgender people, his episode "Ch-Ch-Changes" was highlighted as offering a sensitive portrayal of the topic. It also got the largest audience to date, 31.5 million, with his "King Baby" being the second most watched that season.

Stahl and Barbara Turner wrote a screenplay for an HBO film about Ernest Hemingway and his relationship with Martha Gellhorn entitled Hemingway & Gellhorn starring Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman. James Gandolfini served as executive producer to the film, which was directed by Philip Kaufman and first aired on HBO on May 28, 2012.

Works

Memoir Permanent Midnight (1995) OG Dad (2015) Nein, Nein, Nein!: One Man's Tale of Depression, Psychic Torment, and a Bus Tour of the Holocaust (2022)

Novels Perv: A Love Story (1999) Plainclothes Naked (2002) I, Fatty (2005) Pain Killers (2009) Bad Sex On Speed (2013) Happy Mutant Baby Pills: A Novel (2013)

Short stories Love Without: Stories (2007)

Multiple author collections The Heroin Chronicles (2013) (editor and contributor)

Films Film work includes:

Dr. Caligari (1989) Permanent Midnight (1998) Bad Boys II (2003) Urge (2016) Chuck (2016)

As Herbert W. Day: Nightdreams (1981) Café Flesh (1982)

Television You Again?: "Bad Apples" (1986) "Enid Quits" (1986) ALF: "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue?" (1986) "La Cucaracha" (1987) "Mind Games" (1989) thirtysomething: "Born to Be Mild" (1988) "Politics" (1989) Moonlighting: "Plastic Fantastic Lovers" (1989) "Perfect" (1989) Twin Peaks "Laura's Secret Diary" (1990) Northern Exposure "Soapy Sanderson" (1990) Shades of LA: "Pointers from Paz" (1990) CSI: "Justice Is Served" (2001) "Slaves of Las Vegas" (2001) "Felonious Monk" (2002) "The Hunger Artist" (2002) "Fur and Loathing" (2003) "Getting Off" (2004) "Ch-Ch-Changes" (2004) "King Baby" (2005) "Pirates of the Third Reich" (2006) "Way To Go" (2006) Hemingway & Gellhorn (2011 HBO movie) Maron "White Truck" (2014) "Professor of Desire" (2015) "Anti-Depressed" (2015) "Spiral" (2015) "The 13th Step" (2016) "Sobriety Bush" (2016) "Bookstore" (2016) Escape at Dannemora (2018 Showtime miniseries) "Part 3" "Part 6" (with Brett Johnson and Michael Tolkin)