Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Sherry Coben, a writer-producer who created the Emmy-winning 1980s sitcom “Kate & Allie,” died Oct.
16 of cancer in New Milford, N.J. She was 71. Coben started out in the art department at Philadelphia’s KYW-TV, working on graphics, sets, illustration and animation for local programming and “The Mike Douglas Show.” After moving to New York City, she worked freelance for TV shows and magazines, then broke in as a writer on the children’s program “Hot Hero Sandwich,” for which she won a Daytime Emmy.
She went on to writer for the ABC soap opera “Ryan’s Hope” before creating the CBS sitcom “Kate & Allie.” Starring Jane Curtin and Susan St.
James as divorced mothers who raise their children together, the show won several Emmys and ran for six seasons. St. James is the more spirited of the pair, while Curtin, who won two consecutive Emmys for her role, is the more conservative mom.
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