David Handelman, a print journalist turned television writer who worked on Aaron Sorkin's series Sports evening, The West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip AND The editorial staffHe died. He was 63 years old.
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 said. The Hollywood Reporter.
Handelman also wrote for the 2006 CBS series Love Monkey; for the sixth season (2008-09) of The CW series A tree hill; for the second season (2013-14) of ABC Nashville; and for the third season (2015) of DirecTV rascal.
Most recently, he was a producer and writer for nearly a decade on CNN Smerconianwho paid tribute to him on air in the days following his death.
Before television, Handelman was a staff writer at Rolling Stonewhich has covered everyone from the Beastie Boys and Talking Heads to Sam Kinison, folk artist Howard Finster, and AIDS activists ACT UP. He has also done comedy issues.
He then worked as an art editor for Rowing and has written for publications including The New York Times, New York magazine, GQ, Details, Before AND To spy.
Born in Scarsdale, New York, on April 23, 1961, Handelman made his TV debut by writing a screenplay for the HBO series The Larry Sanders Show with Children in the hall member Mark McKinney. (Handleman had written a story about the Canadian TV show for Rolling Stone in 1988.)
Sorkin read it and hired them to write a freelance script for ABC Sports eveningwhich became the 1999 season one episode “The Sword of Orion.”
The following year, Handelman transformed a real-life disastrous experience, interviewing Michael Jordan, into the season two episode “The Sweet Smell of Air.”
In 2002, Handelman joined the staff of The West Wing for the fourth season, Sorkin's final year, on the NBC drama, then worked on NBC Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in 2006-07 and HBO The editorial staff in 2012. His experiences as a journalist influenced many of Sorkin's plots and details.
He also wrote for the union The Jane Pauley ShowABC Good morning America and CNN In the arenahosted by Eliot Spitzer.
(Many behind-the-scenes anecdotes from Handelman's career, including one in which he got on the phone with Bruce Springsteen, can be found here.)
In recent years, he has become a leader in the online community that has 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 at a service attended by more than 400 people, including many industry professionals. A eulogy was delivered by McKinney.
Survivors include his wife, Syd Sidner, daughters, Helen and Nancy, and brothers, Dan and Matt.