Stephen J. Cannell, a renowned television producer, writer, and novelist, was born and raised in Pasadena, California. His father's interior design firm played a significant role in his early life, where he struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia, which made it challenging for him to excel in school. Despite his difficulties with English, he had an unrelenting passion for writing, as evident in his high school yearbook, where he declared his ambition to become an author.
After graduating from high school, Cannell attended the University of Oregon and worked for his father's design firm while secretly honing his writing skills by crafting television scripts and story ideas during his free time. His hard work paid off when he sold his first story ideas to the popular television series Mission: Impossible (1966) and his first script to It Takes a Thief (1968).
Cannell's big break came when he landed a job as a story editor on the hit television series Adam-12 (1968). He went on to create a character named Jim Rockford for a script he wrote for the series Toma (1973),which was initially rejected by ABC but was later rewritten and developed into the iconic NBC series The Rockford Files (1974).
Throughout his illustrious career, Cannell has written or co-written over 300 television scripts, created or co-created over two dozen television series, formed a successful production company, and written best-selling police novels. He has also acted in his own and other producers' shows. Cannell's impressive accolades include an Emmy Award, two Writer's Guild Awards, two Edgar Award Nominations, and a star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame.
Despite his numerous achievements, Cannell's first love remained writing. His passion for the craft was evident to his colleagues, including writer and The Sopranos (1999) creator David Chase, who once remarked that no person he had ever met seemed to love writing as much as Stephen J. Cannell.
