Talent
- Chuck Lorre
September 2020
Chuck Lorre is a prolific television writer and producer, having created, executive produced or written more than 1,000 episodes of television spanning the past three decades. Lorre co-created and serves as executive producer of the acclaimed, award-winning comedies YOUNG SHELDON and BOB ♥ ABISHOLA, and executive produces the comedies B POSITIVE and UNITED STATES OF AL, all airing on CBS. He created and executive produces the Golden Globe Award-winning comedy “The Kominsky Method,” which stars Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin, for Netflix. The first season of “The Kominsky Method” received three Golden Globe nominations and won two, including Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy for Lorre, as well as Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Musical or Comedy for Douglas, in 2019. In addition, the comedy series garnered three nominations for the 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards.
Lorre co-created and executive produced the global blockbuster comedy “The Big Bang Theory,” which concluded its highly successful 12-season run in May 2019 after 279 episodes, finishing as the longest-running multicamera comedy in television history. Also, he co-created and executive produced the comedy “Disjointed,” starring Academy Award and Emmy Award winner Kathy Bates, for Netflix. Previously, he was executive producer of the hit comedy “Mike & Molly” and co-created and executive produced the long-running hit comedy “Two and a Half Men,” both on the Network. Before that, he created hits such as “Cybill,” “Dharma & Greg” and “Grace Under Fire,” and served as co-executive producer on “Roseanne.”
Lorre got his start as a guitarist and singer, touring the country and writing pop songs, including Debbie Harry’s Top 40 hit “French Kissin’ in the USA.” After more than a decade on the road, Lorre turned his attention to television. He began writing animation scripts for DIC and Marvel Productions, as well as writing and producing the themes and scores for several animated series, including “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
A spec primetime script soon led to freelance work on the syndicated comedy “Charles in Charge” and, eventually, to a staff job on “My Two Dads.” Lorre’s big break came in 1991 when he became a supervising producer, and later a co-executive producer, on the groundbreaking comedy “Roseanne.”
In addition to receiving two Golden Globe Awards and multiple Emmy Award nominations, Lorre won the BMI Crystal Award for co-writing the “Two and a Half Men” theme song and was named an honorary member of the Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science for his work on “The Big Bang Theory.” He received the Screen Writers Association’s David Angell Humanitarian Award for his charitable work at the Venice (Calif.) Family Clinic and the NATPE Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award. Lorre was named Television Showman of the Year at the 46th Annual ICG Publicists Awards Ceremony and was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He is an inductee into both the Television Academy Hall of Fame and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. For his commitment to philanthropy, Lorre has been honored numerous times by select charitable organizations, including the Venice Family Clinic, The Midnight Mission and the CLARE/Matrix Foundation.
In 2014, Lorre established the Chuck Lorre Family Foundation (TCLFF), which is dedicated to supporting education, health and the arts in underserved communities. “The Big Bang Theory” Scholarship Endowment at UCLA was created in 2015 to support undergraduate students in need of financial aid who are pursuing their higher education in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). “The Big Bang Theory” Scholarship Endowment has raised more than $5.5 million and currently funds 10 student scholarships per year. The Endowment is unique in that it was funded with donations from over 80 people associated with “The Big Bang Theory,” including producers, cast and crew, studio, network and other industry partners. The first group of 20 TBBT scholars graduated from UCLA in 2019. In March 2019, in honor of the end of the series, TCLFF extended their commitment to the TBBT undergraduate scholars by forming “The Big Bang Theory” Graduate School Fund. This fund provides four-year graduate and/or PhD school scholarship grants exclusively to graduating TBBT/UCLA scholars who will be continuing their STEM graduate education within the University of California system. TBBT/UCLA scholars who pursue their graduate studies outside of the UC system are eligible for a one-time grant.
TCLFF also created and funds “The Young Sheldon STEM Initiative,” inspired by the hit comedy series “Young Sheldon.” This program is dedicated to supporting our nation’s public school students and teachers while fostering excitement for learning in STEM. “Young Sheldon” executive producers Steven Molaro and Jim Parsons, Warner Bros. Television Group and CBS also contributed to this program which awards two-year educational grants to 20 select elementary, middle and high schools in the Los Angeles area, where the show is produced, and East Texas, where the show is set.
Lorre has become known for expressing his thoughts and views through personal messages in the split-second vanity cards which appear at the end of his shows. Select cards were compiled into a book, released in 2012, titled What Doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Bitter. All proceeds from the sale of the book benefit healthcare–related charities and educational efforts, including the Venice Family Clinic and the Robert Levine Family Health Center, named for his father.
A native of Long Island, N.Y., Lorre resides in Los Angeles.