Nell Scovell facts for kids

Helen Vivian "Nell" Scovell is an American writer and producer for television and magazines. She is well-known for creating the popular TV show Sabrina the Teenage Witch. This show aired on ABC and The WB from 1996 to 2003. Nell Scovell also helped write the important book Lean In.

Early Life and Education

Nell Scovell grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, as the middle child of five. Her family was Jewish. Her father, Melvin E. Scovell, was a leader at a health-care management company.

When she was in high school at Newton South High School, Nell was the manager for the boys' track team. After high school, she went to Harvard University. There, she spent her time writing and editing sports stories for the student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. In her last year at Harvard, she also wrote for the sports section of Boston Globe. She graduated from Harvard in 1982 with honors, which is called cum laude.

Career Highlights

After college, Nell Scovell moved to New York City. In 1986, she became the first staff writer hired by Spy magazine. Later, Tina Brown asked her to work at Vanity Fair. At Vanity Fair, she created interesting visual stories about money and culture.

An old editor from Spy magazine suggested she try writing for television. Nell wrote a script for a TV show called It's Garry Shandling's Show, and it was bought! She then worked as a story editor for the last season of Newhart. After that, she joined the team at Late Night with David Letterman.

Writing for Television

Nell Scovell has written for many famous TV shows. She was one of the first women to write an episode of The Simpsons. She wrote the season two episode "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" and later the season 32 episode "Sorry Not Sorry".

Her other TV writing jobs include shows like Coach, Monk, Murphy Brown, Charmed, NCIS, and The Critic. She also wrote an episode for Space Ghost Coast to Coast called "Urges."

Directing and Magazine Work

Nell Scovell has also directed two TV movies. These were Hayley Wagner, Star for Showtime and It Was One of Us for Lifetime.

Besides TV, Nell has written for many well-known magazines. She was an editor at Vanity Fair. She also wrote for Vogue, Rolling Stone, Self, Tatler, and The New York Times Magazine. She currently writes a blog for Vanity Fair's website.

In 2019, Nell Scovell joined other writers in a stand against talent agencies. This was part of the WGA's effort to change how writers are paid and represented.

Books by Nell Scovell

Nell Scovell co-wrote the 2013 book Lean In with Sheryl Sandberg. This book became very popular.

In 2018, Nell Scovell published her own book. It is called Just the Funny Parts: ... And a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking into the Hollywood Boys' Club. Sheryl Sandberg wrote the introduction for this book.

Personal Life

Nell Scovell was briefly married to Tom Tisch. She is now married to Colin Summers, who is an architect. They have two sons together. Her sister, Claire Scovell LaZebnik, is also a writer. Claire is married to Rob LaZebnik, whose brothers are also screenwriters.

The famous comedian and magician Penn Jillette once said that Nell Scovell is "one of the funniest people alive."

See also

In Spanish: Nell Scovell para niños