Lee Goldberg profile picture

Lee Goldberg

Who is this Guy?

About Me

Lee Goldberg is an ex-Navy SEAL, freelance Sexual Surrogate and a professional Pierce Brosnan impersonator.


Okay, that's not true. But he wants this biography to be really exciting, so pay attention. If things bog down, I've been instructed to add a car chase or some explicit sex.


Here's the real story. Lee Goldberg writes books and television shows.


His mother wanted him to be a doctor, and his grandfather wanted him to go into the family furniture business. Instead, he put himself through UCLA as a freelance journalist, writing for such publications as American Film, Starlog, Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times Syndicate, The Washington Post and The San Francisco Chronicle (He also wrote erotic letters to the editor for Playgirl at $25-a-letter, but he doesn't tell people about that, he just likes to boast about those "tiffany" credits).


He published his first book .357 Vigilante (as "Ian Ludlow," so he'd be on the shelf next to Robert Ludlum) while he was still a UCLA student. The West Coast Review of Books called his debut "as stunning as the report of a .357 Magnum, a dynamic premiere effort," singling the book out as "The Best New Paperback Series" of the year. Naturally, the publisher promptly went bankrupt and he never saw a dime in royalties.


Welcome to publishing, Lee.


His subsequent books include the non-fiction books Successful Television Writing and Unsold Television Pilots ("The Best Bathroom Reading Ever!" San Francisco Chronicle) as well as the novels My Gun Has Bullets ("It will make you cackle like a sitcom laugh track," Entertainment Weekly), Beyond the Beyond ("Outrageously entertaining," Kirkus Reviews), The Man With The Iron-On Badge (""As dark and twisted as anything Hammett or Chandler ever dreamed up...leaving Travis McGee in the dust" Kirkus Reviews), the Diagnosis Murder novels ("With books this good, who needs TV?" Chicago Tribune) and the Monk series of original novels.
"Take me now," she moaned, "you hot writer stud."


She tore off her clothes and tackled him onto the floor, unable to control her raging lust. Nothing excited her more than being around a writer with a big list of books.


Got your attention again? Good. I don't know about you, but I was starting to nod off. Where was I? Oh yes...


Goldberg broke into television with a freelance script sale to Spenser: For Hire. Since then, his TV writing & producing credits have covered a wide variety of genres, including sci-fi (SeaQuest), cop shows (Hunter), martial arts (Martial Law), whodunits (Diagnosis Murder, Nero Wolfe), the occult (She-Wolf of London), kid's shows (R.L. Stine's The Nightmare Room), T&A (Baywatch), comedy (Monk) and utter crap (The Highwayman). His TV work has earned him two Edgar Award nominations from the Mystery Writers of America.


His two careers, novelist and TV writer, merged when he began writing the Diagnosis Murder series of original novels, based on the hit CBS TV mystery that he also wrote and produced. And he also writes novels based on Monk, another show he's worked on.


But perhaps he's best known for his pioneering work mapping the human genome and negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.


Goldberg lives in Los Angeles with his wife and his daughter and still sleeps in "Man From UNCLE" pajamas.


My Interests

Watching TV, writing and producing TV, mystery writing,writing novels,reading novels,traveling,spending time with my family

I'd like to meet:

Larry McMurtry, John Irving, David Milch,

Music:

I'm a geek -- I love TV themes and soundtracks. I'm also on a Lee Hazelwood kick right now. Pathetic, isn't it?

Television:

Deadwood, Rescue Me, Law & Order SVU,Battlestar Galactica,Monk,The Sopranos,Maverick,Gunsmoke,The Avengers,The Saint, It Takes a Thief, Hell's Kitchen,American Casino,Rockford Files,Inspector Morse,Columbo,and hundreds more.

Books:

Elmer Kelton,Larry McMurtry,Frederick Manfred,Jaems Crumley,Robert B. Parker,T. Jefferson Parker,Thomas Perry,Michael Connolly,Ian Rankin,Sue Grafton,Elmore Leonard,Ed McBain,A.B. Guthrie, Harry Whittington, Ed Gorman,Richard S. Prather,Ian Fleming,Barry Eisler,Lee Child,William Hoffman,Lawrence Block,Susanna Clarke,Kent Harrington,Thomas Perry,Tod Goldberg,Richard S. Wheeler,SJ Rozan,Victor Gischler,Andrew Coburn,Scott Phillips,Bill Crider,D.A. DeRosso,Clifton Adams,Robert Ferrigno,Jeremiah Healy,Stephen Hunter,Paul Levine,Paul Bishop,Richard Barre,Sherman Alexie,Peter Carey,Garry Disher,and hundreds more.

My Blog

One Day and Counting

It's Monday night here in Berlin...which means we are just one day away from commencement  of principal photography on FAST TRACK: NO LIMITS. The last week has been filled with (among a thousan...
Posted by Lee Goldberg on Tue, 29 May 2007 06:27:00 PST

Too Much Fun

May 24Production on FAST TRACK: NO LIMITS begins in just a few days. The casting is done, the cars are here being transformed into racers, and the stunts are being tested. Now the fun reall...
Posted by Lee Goldberg on Sat, 26 May 2007 01:40:00 PST

The Verdict is In

Variety reports today that the jury has delivered their verdict in the Clive Cussler SAHARA case. They've awarded the author $5 million in damages and ruled that the producers have to pay him $8...
Posted by Lee Goldberg on Sun, 20 May 2007 07:46:00 PST

Fast Track Production Diary

Latest post to oldest...May 20 Friday was a big day for me... I delivered my novel MR. MONK IN OUTER SPACE to my editor (and learned they've moved the pub date up to November) and emerged from a m...
Posted by Lee Goldberg on Sun, 20 May 2007 07:55:00 PST

The Word on the Last Word

I have been getting lots of emails about THE LAST WORD, the final DIAGNOSIS  MURDER novel. I would say that 95% of the response has been positive...the rest, well, far less so. Here's a small sa...
Posted by Lee Goldberg on Sun, 20 May 2007 07:45:00 PST

I've Sold a 150 Million Copies of my Books

Okay, maybe I haven't. But according to Clive Cussler, the number doesn't matter anyway. Cussler is on the witness stand here in L.A. in a clash of lawsuits over the failure of the movie SAHARA, bas...
Posted by Lee Goldberg on Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:55:00 PST

Writer Beware!

I got this email today from an aspiring screenwriter. I've removed the names: My name is X. I am a writer.  Producer Z has been corresponding with me via email concerning one of my screenplays.&...
Posted by Lee Goldberg on Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:54:00 PST

Wheeler Life

I received this email today from Phil Hawley: Having learned about Richard S. Wheeler during a visit to your blog, and after reading some of his wonderfully rich and vivid stories of the West, I wan...
Posted by Lee Goldberg on Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:53:00 PST

Another Word on THE LAST WORD

Another Word on THE LAST WORD Longtime DIAGNOSIS MURDER fan Chadwick Saxelid has read THE LAST WORD, the 8th and final book in the series, and didn't find it a very pleasant experience. He says, in ...
Posted by Lee Goldberg on Sat, 21 Apr 2007 06:38:00 PST

The Executioners

I just discovered the Mack Bolan/Executioner site (thanks to Ben Boulden). The best thing about it is the complete list of the 343 MACK BOLAN titles (not counting the 114 SuperBolans and 89 Stony Ma...
Posted by Lee Goldberg on Sat, 21 Apr 2007 06:37:00 PST