Janet Leahy | A Wise Woman Writing for Mad Men

By JUDY SILK | Special to the Palisadian-Post

Have you ever wondered if someone was listening to your conversation in line at Starbucks or the post office? Well, someone may be, and your remarks could end up coming out of a television character’s mouth as dialog.

Longtime Pacific Palisades resident, six-time Emmy-nominated writer and Writers’ Guild and Peabody Award winner Janet Leahy draws on her life and surroundings for ideas and at times, a quote or two. She promises that she would never write about a friend or neighbor without specific permission, but random rudeness is fair game.

Leahy, a graduate of UCLA’s School of Film and Television, got her start in comedy, cutting her teeth as a writer/producer and executive producer on such shows as “Cheers,” “The Cosby Show,” “Roseanne” and “Grace Under Fire.” Not a bad beginning. She then segued into one-hour drama on such shows as “Gilmore Girls” and was Executive Producer of “Boston Legal,” “Life Unexpected” and “Mad Men.”

She is currently at work on a one-hour drama pilot for AMC and a half hour comedy for HBO.

In a sit-down interview, Leahy talked about how living in the Palisades has impacted her work. She and her family have been active members of the community by way of the local public schools and Kehillat Israel Synagogue.

“Pacific Palisades is the backdrop to many films and television shows, but for me it is a backdrop to my imagination and inspiration,” Leahy said.

Leahy was born and raised in Burlingame, California, but she and her husband Richard Farber have lived in the Palisades for 20 years. Their two sons Alex and David attended Palisades Elementary Charter School and then New Roads and Crossroads, respectively. Alex recently graduated from Loyola Marymount with a degree in film and television; David attends the University of Michigan.

Leahy said that after a busy, grueling week managing the stress and demands of a weekly episodic television show, she finds both comfort and inspiration in KI’s Shabbat Services.

At times the Clergy’s words have come out in the shows’ characters. For example, something that Cantor Chayim Frenkel said made it into a Rabbi’s character on the show “Boston Legal.”

Cantor Frenkel had said that he asks people “how they’re doing” three times. The first answer will be benign and socially acceptable.  But by the third time, they will tell you the truth, and you will have a more meaningful conversation.

Leahy also derives wisdom from life experiences that she pulls into her shows’ storylines. After participating in a KI Mega Mitzvah Day of good deeds with her family, when they spent a day at a nursing home, one patient in particular stood out.

This particular woman had once had a rich and full life as a violinist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Leahy folded that experience into an episode featuring Candace Bergen as an elderly woman who had such a life but was now winnowed down to a life spent looking out her window.

The poignant portrayal earned the actress a Peabody Award.

Some other ways the Palisades has been woven into her storylines include when Don Draper, the main character of “Mad Men,” took to the road and ended up at the American Legion.

While doing errands in the Palisades, Leahy walked by our very own American Legion building on La Cruz Drive and stopped in. She connected this iconic building with Draper’s military past and the sense of community such an organization brings. These elements informed both the story arc of the episode and the rest of the series.

Leahy takes her role as a mentor to new writers seriously too. She said she was the recipient of a great deal of help early in her own career and she feels it is incumbent on her to return the favor.

So, you might find her at Café Vida or Beech Street some morning, answering questions, giving direction and passing along her 20 years worth of acquired wisdom over coffee.

We’re lucky to have her in our midst.