Gabbay, Tom 1953-

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Gabbay, Tom 1953-

PERSONAL:

Born April 1, 1953, in Bloomington, IN; son of Jacob (a history teacher) and Susan (a librarian; maiden name, Davis) Gabbay; married Susan Schulman, 1981 (marriage ended); married Julia Keighley, 1996; children: (first marriage) Jared, Jake; (second marriage) Max, Sophie.Education: Attended Colorado State University; L'École des Beaux Arts; Heatherly School of Fine Art, London, England; and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Philadelphia College of Art, B.F.A., 1978.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Europe. Agent—Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc., 1501 Broadway, Ste. 2310, New York, NY 10036. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Worked variously as a producer and director in New York, NY, for children's television program Sesame Street, as well as for short independent films, commercials, and music videos; National Broadcasting Corp., Los Angeles, CA, director of children's programming, 1985-87, director of comedy programming, 1987-90, director of European production division in London, England, 1990-93; executive producer for episodes of television series The Wanderer,1994.

WRITINGS:

The Berlin Conspiracy (thriller novel), William Morrow (New York, NY), 2006.

Also author of film and television screenplays, including The Princess Stallion.

SIDELIGHTS:

Tom Gabbay is best known as a television director and producer who has worked on shows ranging from Sesame Street to Cheersand Family Ties. In addition to helping put such programs on the air in an executive function, he has also written several screenplays for both film and television, working with companies such as Fox, Warner Brothers, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Hallmark Productions. Gabbay ventured into novel writing, however, with the thriller The Berlin Conspiracy, which takes place in 1963, during the Cold War. The novel follows former CIA spy Jack Teller, who is called out of retirement when an anonymous East German source refuses to pass his information to anyone else. Ronnie H. Terpening, writing forLibrary Journal, found this story "a tired plot saved by a few interesting characters." However, a contributor for Kirkus Reviews remarked that the book "evocatively captures the dark, dank atmosphere of East Berlin," and a Publishers Weekly critic felt that Gabbay's debut effort "offers a stylish thriller with an appealing hero."