Don Brinkley Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Childhood and Early Life

American television writer and journalist Don Brinkley was born Donald Alan Brinkley in the Bronx, New York to Isreal Brinkman, of Russian-Jewish descent and Pauline Balish. His mother was English born of Ukrainian-Jewish parents.

Education

Don Brinkley did his high schooling in New York City before graduating from Hofstra College.

Rise to Fame

While still studying, Don Brinkley began writing radio scripts and submitting them to major networks. During World War II, he was in the U.S. Army, and when he returned, he continued his writing career.

Career

During the early 1950s, Don Brinkley concentrated on the new medium of television writing episodes of Dick Tracy, The Cisco, and other old television shows. He wrote the crime drama Highway Patrol, of which he was also the director. Other shows he wrote for were Have Gun - Will Travel, Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958-1960),  Ben Casey (1962-1963)The Untouchables (1963), Rawhide (1964), Tarzan (1966), The Fugitive (1965-1966).

He also wrote the episodes of The Virginian (1965-1966), The Man from U.N.C.L.E (1967),  Trapper John, MD (1979-1986), Medical Centre (1969-1976) and Divided We Stand (1988).  He was also the producer of Trapper John, M.D. and Divided We Stand (1988). Brinkley was also a radio journalist with CBS Radio.

Awards and Achievements

Don Brinkley had a career retrospective at the Museum of Broadcasting in New York City in 1988.

Personal Life

Don Brinkley was married twice and had four children: Christie, Greg, Jeff, and Kim. Don Brinkley lived to be 91 and died in Sag Harbor, New York on the 14 July 2012. His daughter Christie is a famous model, and his son Greg acted in the Trapper John, MD series. Both Christie and Greg were his stepchildren whom he adopted when he married their mother Marge (m.1957). His other two children, Jeff and Kim he had with his first wife, Lois.