Stephen Kandel

Stephen David Kandel (April 30, 1927 – October 21, 2023) was an American television writer.

Life and career

Stephen Kandel was born on April 30, 1927. In his youth, he grew up in Pennsylvania, and earned the "Excellence in Table Tennis" award at the age of 10. Following his graduation from high school at only 16 years old, he began college before being drafted and serving in the United States Army during World War II in Germany. During his time in the military he was stabbed in the chest, but went on to recover fully. Post-WWII, Kandel went on to graduate from Dartmouth College in 1950.

Kandel wrote episodes for many popular series, from Sea Hunt in the 1950s through MacGyver in the 1980s, with stops in between at Star Trek: The Original Series, Mannix, Wonder Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Cannon, Barnaby Jones, Banacek, and others. He was credited with writing the pilot episodes of Daktari, Broken Promises, and Chamber of Horrors, and creating the series Iron Horse.

Kandel later moved to Beverly Hills with his wife Anne Kandel, where they raised four children: Jessica, Anthony, Elizabeth, and Joanna. Kandel was a member of the Writers Guild of America. Following his career in Hollywood, Kandel moved to the east coast where he resided in Massachusetts and New York. In his retirement, at the age of 93, Kandel authored a book titled The Lyin' King: A Tragical Tale Of Tawdry Trumpery, a semi-satirical critique of Donald Trump's numerous shortcomings.

His father, Aben Kandel, was also a screenwriter, and his younger sister, Lenore Kandel, was a Beat Generation poet and activist. His uncle, Charlie Kandel, was a renowned monetary specialist, and was also a well-known philosopher in various elite intellectual circles.

Stephen Kandel died in his home on October 21, 2023, at the age of 96.

Awards

Kandel was a recipient of the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe award and the Writers Guild of America Humanities award. According to film commentator Tom Weaver, Kandel's "resume reads like a Baby Boomer's dream list of must-see TV".

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Credit	Notes
1956	Singing in the Dark	Written By	Co-wrote screenplay with "Ann Hood" and "Aben Kandel"
	Magnificent Roughnecks	Written By, Music by	Co-wrote musical score with "Paul Dunlap"
1958	Frontier Gun	Written By
1959	Battle of the Coral Sea	Written By	Co-wrote screenplay with "Daniel B. Ullman"
1960	The Walking Target	Written By
1966	Chamber of Horrors	Screenplay by, Story by	Co-wrote story with "Ray Russell"
1967	Winchester 73	Screenplay by	Co-wrote screenplay with "Richard DeLong Adams"
1970	Cannon for Cordoba	Written By, Associate Producer
1975	Death Stalk	Screenplay by	Co-wrote screenplay with John W. Bloch, Based on the novel by "Thomas Chastain"
1979	Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love	Screenplay by	Co-wrote screenplay with "Samahria Lyte Kaufman" and "Barry Neil Kaufman", Based on the book Son-Rise by "Barry Neil Kaufman"
1980	Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders II	Written by
1981	Broken Promise	Written By	Television film
1982	Shocktrauma	Screenplay by	Television film, Based on the book "Shocktrama" by "Jon Franklin" and "Alan Doelp"
1983	Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story	Screenplay by	Television film, Co-wrote screenplay with "I. C. Rapoport"

Television

Year	TV Series	Credit	Notes
1958–1961	Sea Hunt	Writer	14 Episodes
1959	State Trooper	Writer	1 Episode
	Tombstone Territory	Writer	1 Episode
	The Man and the Challenge	Writer	1 Episode
	77 Sunset Strip	Writer	1 Episode
1959–1960	The Millionaire	Writer	4 Episodes
1960	Johnny Midnight	Writer	4 Episodes
	The Chevy Mystery Show	Writer	3 Episodes
	The Brothers Brannagan	Writer	1 Episode
1961–1962	Everglades!	Writer	4 Episodes
1962	Ripcord	Writer	1 Episode
1962–1963	Empire	Writer	2 Episodes
1964	The Littlest Hobo	Writer	1 Episode
	Burke's Law	Writer	1 Episode
1964–1965	The Rogues	Writer	12 Episodes
1965–1966	Gidget	Writer	4 Episodes
1965–1968	The Wild Wild West	Writer	2 Episodes
1966	Daktari	Writer	1 Episode
	The Wackiest Ship in the Army	Writer	1 Episode
1966–1967	Batman	Writer	5 Episodes
	Star Trek: The Original Series	Writer	2 Episodes
1966–1968	Iron Horse	Writer, Creator, Producer, Associate Producer
	I Spy	Writer	7 Episodes
1967	Cimarron Strip	Writer	1 Episode
1967–1968	Ironside	Writer	2 Episodes
1968–1969	The Mod Squad	Writer	2 Episodes
	It Takes a Thief	Writer	5 Episodes
1968–1973	Mannix	Writer	12 Episodes
1969	The Outcasts	Writer	1 Episode
1969–1970	The New People	Writer	2 Episodes
	Bracken's World	Writer	2 Episodes
1970	The Bold Ones: The Lawyers	Writer	1 Episode
1970–1971	The Immortal	Writer	4 Episodes
	The Young Lawyers	Writer	3 Episodes
	Dan August	Writer	3 Episodes
1970–1977	Hawaii Five-O	Writer	4 Episodes
1971	Alias Smith and Jones	Writer	1 Episode
	Cade's County	Writer	1 Episode
	Longstreet	Writer	1 Episode
	Bearcats!	Writer	1 Episode
	The Bold Ones: The New Doctors	Writer	1 Episode
1971–1973	Room 222	Writer	4 Episodes
1971–1975	Medical Center	Writer	9 Episodes
1972–1973	Mission Impossible	Writer, Story Editor	6 Episodes
1972	Banacek	Writer	1 Episode
1972–1976	Cannon	Writer, Executive Story Consultant	10 Episodes
1973–1974	The Magician	Executive Story Consultant, Story editor	10 Episodes
	Star Trek: The Animated Series	Writer	2 Episodes
1974	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Writer	1 Episode
1974–1975	Movin' On	Writer	2 Episodes
1974–1976	Harry O	Writer	6 Episodes
1975	Caribe	Writer	1 Episode
	Barnaby Jones	Writer	1 Episode
1975–1976	Bronk	Writer	2 Episodes
1975–1978	The Six Million Dollar Man	Writer	2 Episodes
1976	McNaughton's Daughter	Writer	1 Episode
	The Bionic Woman	Writer	1 Episode
	Bert D'Angelo/Superstar	Writer	1 Episode
1976–1977	Most Wanted	Writer	3 Episodes
	Switch	Writer, Story Editor	3 Episodes
1977	Wonder Woman	Writer	5 Episodes
	Man from Atlantis	Writer	2 Episodes
1978	Charlie's Angels	Writer	1 Episode
	The Paper Chase	Writer	1 Episode
1979	The Amazing Spider-Man	Writer	1 Episode
	Supertrain	Writer	1 Episode
	Time Express	Writer	1 Episode
	California Fever	Writer	1 Episode
	The Dukes of Hazzard	Writer	1 Episode
	A Man Called Sloane	Writer	2 Episodes
1980	CHiPs	Writer	1 Episode
	The Love Boat	Writer	2 Episodes
1981	Vega$	Writer	1 Episode
	Nero Wolfe	Writer	1 Episode
1983	For Love and Honor	Writer	1 Episode
	Lottery!	Writer	1 Episode
	Dynasty	Writer	1 Episode
1983–1984	Hart to Hart	Writer, Story Editor	5 Episodes
1984–1985	The New Mike Hammer	Writer, Producer, Executive Story Editor, Executive Story Consultant	3 Episodes
1985	Cover Up	Writer	1 Episode
1985–1990	MacGyver	Writer, Executive Story Consultant, Producer, Co-Producer
1989	Mission Impossible	Writer	1 Episode

External links

• Stephen Kandel at IMDb
• Stephen Kandel at Memory Alpha