Ruth Brooks Flippen

Ruth Brooks Flippen (born Ruth Albertina Brooks; September 14, 1921 – July 9, 1981) was an American screenwriter and television writer. The story editor for one season and later a script consultant on the popular American situation comedy series, Bewitched, and the story editor for three years on That Girl, she had previously written the script for the pilot of the Gidget series. In April 1969, she was signed by television producer Sherwood Schwartz to be the story editor of Paramount Television's new sitcom, The Brady Bunch, which subsequently aired its first episode on the American Broadcasting Company's television network as part of its new prime time programming on Friday nights. Formative years and family life Born Ruth Albertina Brooks on September 14, 1921 in Brooklyn, New York, Ruth Brooks was a daughter of Charles E. Brooks. Involved in the entertainment industry during her early childhood years, she became known as "Baby Ruth, the World's Most Talented Toddler Tapster." At the age of three, she relocated with her parents to Hartford, Connecticut, where she subsequently attended the Chauncey Harris Grammar School and Hartford High School. An assistant dance instructor at a prominent dance academy in Hartford by the time she was eleven, she also "had her own radio programs on WTIC and WDRC, according to local newspapers. Employed during her high school years as a cashier at the E.M. Loew Theater in Hartford, she "worked her way through college" at Northwestern University. While there, she was a member of Alpha Chi Omega. Following er graduation, she returned to New York and began her career in the television industry.