Alan Spencer is a renowned American writer, producer, and director, best known for creating the satirical TV series "Sledge Hammer!" and serving as a script doctor for feature films.
While still in high school, Spencer snuck onto Twentieth Century Fox Studios to observe Mel Brooks directing "Young Frankenstein". Sixteen years later, Spencer co-created a short-lived NBC sitcom with Brooks entitled "The Nutt House". On the "Young Frankenstein" set, Spencer befriended British comedian Marty Feldman, who encouraged him to become a professional comedy writer.
Not long after, Spencer began selling jokes to established comedians, including Rodney Dangerfield and Garry Shandling. When Spencer finally met Dangerfield many years later and revealed his age at the time, Dangerfield reportedly said: "Oh yeah, I remember those jokes--they read like they were written by a 15-year-old."
As Spencer's reputation as a gag man grew, producer Garry Marshall hired him to work on sitcoms at Paramount Studios while still attending high school. At the time, Spencer became one of the youngest people to ever join the Writers Guild of America.
