Ken LaZebnik

Ken LaZebnik (born November 11, 1954) is an American writer, best known for his work in television, film, and theatre. His work has appeared in films such as A Prairie Home Companion and in television shows Touched by an Angel and Star Trek: Enterprise. LaZebnik's screenplay On the Spectrum earned him a Steinberg Award from the American Theatre Critics Association. He is also the author of the 2014 book Hollywood Digs: An Archeology of Shadows, a collection of essays about personal encounters with Hollywood history.

Career

Television and film

LaZebnik has an extensive career writing for film and television. For eight years he wrote for Touched By An Angel, an American supernatural drama series distributed by CBS. He is also credited with writing three specials for the PBS In Concert at the White House series. Additional television credits include being a contributing writer for Army Wives, Providence, Star Trek: Enterprise, and the Hallmark Channel series When Calls the Heart.

LaZebnik was the writer for Thomas Kinkade's Christmas Cottage a Lionsgate film released in 2008 which starred Peter O'Toole and Marcia Gay Harden. He also has a shared story credit with Garrison Keillor on the film A Prairie Home Companion, directed by Robert Altman.

Theater

LaZebnik's work also include eleven plays produced throughout the United States. He has written two plays on the subject of baseball, both of which were commissioned by the Mixed Blood Theatre Company and directed by its artistic director Jack Reuler. The first play, Calvinisms, was a one-man show about former Minnesota Twins owner Calvin Griffith. The second, League of Nations, is a fictional story set in a bullpen in the midst of a multi-cultural divide.

LaZebnik has written three plays dealing with autism which have had runs at the Mixed Blood Theatre Company. Theory of The Mind was commissioned for young audiences by the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and has also been produced in Minnesota, Hawaii and Michigan. Vestibular Sense was LaZebnik's first play written with a theme and characters centered around autism.

LaZebnik's most recent work, Rachel Calof, was chosen to be performed at the 2015 United Solo Festival in New York City. Rachel Calof is a one-woman show adapted from the memoir of a Jewish homesteader in North Dakota and stars Kate Fuglei.

Other works include African Jazz, The Garden of Joy, Harlem Renaissance Revue, Sink Eating and Black Magic which he co-wrote with Jack Reuler and Bob DeFlores.

Books and journals

In 1981, LaZebnik founded The Minneapolis Review of Baseball, a quarterly journal of writing on baseball. It featured baseball fiction, poetry, history, and editorials on the game. LaZebnik and Steve Lehman also collaborated on a children's baseball ABC book, A Is For At Bat. LaZebnik has written about baseball for The New York Times, Manhattan, inc., and City Pages.

LaZebnik's latest book is Hollywood Digs: An Archaeology of Shadows, published by Kelly's Cove Press in 2014. It is a collection of essays about personal encounters with shards of Hollywood history, including profiles of stuntman/actor Jock Mahoney, the real-life "Gidget," writer Melville Shavelson, and essays on pieces of Hollywood history, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald's tenancy on the San Fernando Valley estate of film butler Edward Everett Horton. The program is geared more towards women, but is open to both men and women.

Published works

Select film and television credits Year Movie/TV Show Role Notes 2014 When Calls the Heart Writer Two episodes in 2014 ("The Dance" & "A Telling Silence") 2012 Army Wives Writer Episode Casualties 2008 Christmas Cottage Writer Also known as Thomas Kinkade's The Christmas Cottage 2004-2005 Star Trek: Enterprise Writer & Producer Writer of episodes Daedalus & Borderland. Supervising producer on 11 episodes. 1994-2003 Touched by an Angel Writer & Producer Writer of multiple episodes. Consulting producer on numerous episodes from 1996 to 2003. 2001 In Performance at the White House Writer Writer 2000-2001 Providence Writer & Producer Wrote episodes The Gun & The Good Doctor. Supervising producer of 10 episodes. 1994 The Commish Writer Episode Born in the USA 1994 The Jackie Thomas Show Writer Episode The Player

Select theatre credits Year Title Role Notes 2013 The Garden of Joy Writer A play with music about the Harlem Renaissance 2011 Rachel Calof Writer One-woman show adapted from the memoir of a Jewish homesteader in North Dakota. 2011 On The Spectrum Writer Premiered at the Mixed Blood Theatre and earned a Steinberg Citation 2002 League of Nations Writer Writer 1988 Calvinisms Writer One-man show about former Minnesota Twins owner Calvin Griffith 1983 Harlem Renaissance Revue Writer Writer 1982 Black Magic Writer 1979 African Jazz Writer