David Handelman obit

David Handelman, Writer on Four Aaron Sorkin TV Series, Dies at 63 

The onetime print journalist worked on ‘Sports Night,’ ‘The West Wing,’ ‘Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip’ and ‘The Newsroom,’ plus ‘One Tree Hill,’ ‘Nashville’ and more. 

He was not on the list.

David Handelman, a print journalist turned TV writer who worked on the Aaron Sorkin series Sports Night, The West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and The Newsroom, has died. He was 63.

Handelman died Aug. 15 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York from complications of Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, a rare blood cancer, producer David Van Taylor told The Hollywood Reporter.

Handelman also wrote for the 2006 CBS series Love Monkey; for season six (2008-09) of The CW’s One Tree Hill; for season two (2013-14) of ABC’s Nashville; and for season three (2015) of DirecTV’s Rogue.

Most recently, he was a staff producer and writer for almost a decade on CNN’s Smerconish, which paid tribute to him on the air in the days after his death.

Before television, Handelman was a staff writer at Rolling Stone, covering everyone from Beastie Boys and Talking Heads to Sam Kinison, folk artist Howard Finster and the AIDS activists ACT UP. He also edited issues devoted to comedy.

He then worked as arts editor for Vogue and wrote for publications including The New York Times, New York magazine, GQ, Details, Premiere and Spy.

Born in Scarsdale, New York, on April 23, 1961, Handelman broke into TV by writing a spec script for HBO’s The Larry Sanders Show with Kids in the Hall member Mark McKinney. (Handleman had penned a story about the Canadian TV show for Rolling Stone in 1988.)

Sorkin read that and hired them to write a freelance script for ABC’s Sports Night, which became the 1999 season one episode “The Sword of Orion.”

The following year, Handelman turned a real-life disastrous experience interviewing Michael Jordan into the season two installment “The Sweet Smell of Air.”

In 2002, Handelman joined the staff of The West Wing for season four — Sorkin’s final year — on the NBC drama, then worked on NBC’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in 2006-07 and HBO’s The Newsroom in 2012. His experiences as a journalist informed many Sorkin plotlines and details.

He also wrote for the syndicated The Jane Pauley Show, ABC’s Good Morning America and CNN’s In the Arena, hosted by Eliot Spitzer.

(Many of Handelman’s behind-the-scenes stories about his career — including one where he got his mother on the phone with Bruce Springsteen — can be found here.)

In recent years, he became a leader in the online community that formed around the band Wilco during the COVID shutdown. Last year, he served as a picket captain during the WGA strike.

Handelman’s life was celebrated Saturday on New York’s Upper West Side during a service that was attended by more than 400 people, including many industry professionals. One eulogy was delivered by McKinney.

Survivors include his wife, Syd Sidner; his daughters, Helen and Nancy; and his brothers, Dan and Matt.

Writer

Rogue (2013)

Rogue

6.9

TV Series

written by

2015

1 episode

 

Connie Britton, Hayden Panettiere, and Kalee Zanella in Nashville (2012)

Nashville

7.7

TV Series

executive story editor

written by

2013–2014

21 episodes

 

Jeff Daniels in The Newsroom (2012)

The Newsroom

8.6

TV Series

story editor

2012

9 episodes

 

Good Afternoon America (2012)

Good Afternoon America

5.1

TV Series

Writer

2012

4 episodes

 

Sophia Bush, James Lafferty, Bethany Joy Lenz, Chad Michael Murray, and Hilarie Burton Morgan in One Tree Hill (2003)

One Tree Hill

7.8

TV Series

story editor

written by

2008–2009

24 episodes

 

Live Earth (2007)

Live Earth

7.1

TV Special

Writer

2007

 

Amanda Peet, Matthew Perry, Steven Weber, Sarah Paulson, Timothy Busfield, D.L. Hughley, Bradley Whitford, and Nate Corddry in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006)

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

8.3

TV Series

staff writer

story

story by

2006–2007

12 episodes

 

Tom Cavanagh in Love Monkey (2006)

Love Monkey

7.7

TV Series

story editor

writer

2006

7 episodes

 

Jane Pauley in The Jane Pauley Show (2004)

The Jane Pauley Show

5.7

TV Series

Writer

2004–2005

 

Rob Lowe, Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Dulé Hill, Moira Kelly, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer, and Bradley Whitford in The West Wing (1999)

The West Wing

8.9

TV Series

staff writer

story by

2002–2003

22 episodes

 

Josh Charles, Felicity Huffman, Sabrina Lloyd, Robert Guillaume, Peter Krause, and Joshua Malina in Sports Night (1998)

Sports Night

8.3

TV Series

story by

teleplay by

written by

1999–2000

2 episodes

 

Producer

Michael Smerconish in Smerconish (2014)

Smerconish

6.1

TV Series

producer (uncredited)

2019

2 episodes

 

Rogue (2013)

Rogue

6.9

TV Series

consulting producer

2015

10 episodes

 

In the Arena (2011)

In the Arena

8.8

TV Series

producer

2011

52 episodes

 

Additional Crew

Jason Brill, Christopher Cousins, Millie Prezioso, and Christopher Stryker in Hell High (1987)

Hell High

5.2

production assistant

1987