Shonda Lynn Rhimes is an American television producer, screenwriter, and author. She is best known as the creator, head writer, executive producer, and show-runner of the television medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.
She was born on the 13th of January 1970 in Chicago, Illinois. She attended Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois, before enrolling at Dartmouth College, where she majored in English and film studies and earned her bachelor’s degree in 1991. At Dartmouth, she joined the Black Underground Theater Association and divided her time between directing and performing in student productions, and fiction
She subsequently relocated to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California, to study screenwriting. She obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Rhimes adopted her first daughter in June 2002 and adopted another girl in February 2012. In September 2013, she welcomed her third daughter via gestational surrogacy.
While at USC she was hired by Debra Martin Chase as an intern. After college, she relocated to San Francisco with an older sibling and worked in advertising at McCann Erickson.
Rhimes is the creator and currently executive producer and head writer of Grey’s Anatomy.
In 2011, she served as executive producer for the medical drama, Off the Map, which was created by Grey’s Anatomy writer, Jenna Bans.
In May 2011, ABC ordered her pilot script Scandal to series.
Rhimes was ranked at the top of her class and earned the Gary Rosenberg Writing Fellowship. She obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
In 2014, Shonda gave a commencement address at her alma mater, Dartmouth College, and received an honorary doctorate.
She is an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
In 2007, Rhimes was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 People Who Help Shape the World.
In 2015, she published a memoir, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person.
According to Vanity Fair, Shonda will be inducted formally at a ceremony on the 15th of November at the Academy’s Saban Media Center.
Shonda Rhimes has won a Golden Globe award and was nominated for three Emmy Awards.
She has also won awards from the Writer’s Guild of America, Producer’s Guild of America, and Director’s Guild of America.
The actress has joined a league of inspiring women; Oprah Winfrey and singer Diahann Carroll, by being the third black woman to be inducted into the TV Hall of Fame.
When speaking about the latest inductees, TV Academy Chairman and CEO Hayma Washington, said:
”These individuals are innovators who have shaped television and left an indelible mark on the medium and our culture. We are honored to welcome the latest group of distinguished individuals and look forward to showcasing their impacts for future generations”.
Comments are closed.