Kenny Solms

Kenny Solms began his professional career in New York, teamed with New York University classmate Gail Parent to write revue material for Leonard Sillman's Broadway revue New Faces of 1968 and for New York's famed Upstairs at the Downstairs. His association with Ms. Parent subsequently became one of the most successful collaborations in American comedy. Following the runway success of three comedy albums (including Our Wedding Album, a hilarious spoof of the Luci Baines Johnson wedding) and a season on Steve Allen's Comedy Hour, Solms created and wrote the first four seasons of the Emmy Award-winning Carol Burnett Show for which he received an award from the Writers Guild of America. He wrote numerous television specials for such stars as Julie Andrews, Ann-Margret, Mary Tyler Moore, Bing Crosby, Dick Van Dyke, Anne Bancroft, and Bill Cosby. His writing of Sills and Burnett at the Met earned him a Peabody Award. Solms wrote and produced The Smothers Brothers Show, Three Girls Three and two HBO specials starring Carol Burnett and Martin Mull. Solms wrote the book for the Jule Styne/Comden & Green musical Lorelei, which starred Carol Channing. He was reunited with Gail Parent when they adapted her novel Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York into a motion picture starring Roy Scheider and Jeannie Berlin. Solms has been head writer and producer for numerous television variety specials including Disneyland's 30th Anniversary Celebration and Neil Diamond's Hello Again. Solms also wrote and produced the HBO special The Return of Bruno, Burnett "Discovers" Domingo for CBS, This Is Your Life, Kelsey Grammer Salutes Jack Benny, and is a frequent contributor to Touched by an Angel. He has recently finished writing a new musical for Broadway, Ain't That a Kick in the Head, based on the songs of Sammy Cahn.