Chuck Lorre

Lorre was born in Plainview, New York, to a Jewish family and given the Hebrew name Chaim. His father, Robert, During his two years at college he "majored in rock 'n' roll and pot and minored in LSD". In 2011, he admitted to drinking heavily in his past, telling Entertainment Weekly (EW) that he "led a dissolute youth until 47" and also stating he was in addiction recovery at the time. He changed his surname from Levine to Lorre at age 26. ==Career==

After leaving school, Lorre toured the United States as a guitarist and songwriter. He wrote the song "French Kissin", which Deborah Harry later recorded for her 1986 Rockbird album He co-wrote the soundtrack to the 1987 television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Dennis Challen Brown. Lorre rejected an invitation from DIC Animation City to be story editor for The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil, only to accept the offer as animation writers were not affected by the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, which put him out of work, while also being contracted to compose stock music for the series. Despite gaining support from ABC, he was immediately shunned by developer John Kricfalusi and practically everyone else involved for the quality of his work and lack of passion. He was fired after an argument with original creator Bob Clampett's widow and son on this matter for this regard after complaints by other crew members. In the late 1980s, he shifted into writing for sitcoms, and joined the writing staff of Roseanne. Though he was fired over "irreconcilable creative differences", Lorre's time on Roseanne impressed producers, and led to his creating his first show, ''Frannie's Turn''. It was cancelled after 5 weeks. Lorre's second show as creator, Grace Under Fire, starred comedian Brett Butler. Lorre then moved to 20th Century Fox in 1995, creating Dharma & Greg in partnership with Dottie Zicklin (credited as Dottie Dartland), which premiered one year before the end of Cybill in 1997. The show received eight Golden Globe nominations, six Emmy Award nominations, and six Satellite Awards nominations, and Elfman won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in 1999. Lorre created his fifth show, Two and a Half Men, with co-creator Lee Aronsohn. It focuses on the two Harper brothers, Charlie and Alan. Charlie is a hedonistic, successful commercial jingles composer and womanizer who owns a beach house in Malibu. Alan is a neurotic chiropractor, thrown out of his own house by his divorcing wife. The premise is that Alan worms himself into Charlie's house and clashes with his lifestyle. Alan also has a son, Jake, the "half", who comes to visit him and Charlie on weekends. Two and a Half Men premiered on CBS in 2003 and became the highest-rated sitcom in America. Sheen was fired from the show and then filed a $100 million lawsuit against Lorre and Warner Bros. Television for wrongful termination. Lorre killed off Sheen's character and hired Ashton Kutcher as his replacement for the show's later four seasons. Lorre's next show was The Big Bang Theory with co-creator Bill Prady. It follows two genius physicists, Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter, with few social skills who befriend their neighbor, an attractive, outgoing young woman with average intelligence and no college education. The episodes usually focus primarily on the daily lives of the men and two of their brilliant but equally socially challenged friends, with a dose of absurdity from the relationship with their less educated but socially astute neighbor. The two main protagonists are named after actor and television producer Sheldon Leonard. The show was broadcast on CBS from 2007 to 2019 and was the highest rated comedy series in the United States. Other shows Lorre was executive producer of Mike & Molly, created by Mark Roberts, which premiered on CBS in September 2010. His seventh show, created with Gemma Baker and Eddie Gorodetsky, Mom, premiered on CBS on September 23, 2013. On March 13, 2014, CBS announced the second season renewal of Mom. It ran for eight seasons. Controversy surrounded United States of Al, a show produced by Lorre for CBS. Released to mostly negative reviews, United States of Al and its makers were criticized for the show's humor, use of antiquated tropes, and in particular, the casting of a South-African-born Indian actor to play an Afghan lead and his use of an inauthentic accent. ==Vanity cards==

The unique vanity cards for Chuck Lorre Productions have become a "trademark" for Lorre, An Apple Macintosh computer was used for Lorre's production card on the earlier episodes of Cybill. Typically, on the end of every episode of his productions, Lorre includes a different message that usually reads like an editorial, essay, or observation on life. A typical card might include a range of topics as diverse as what the Bee Gees never learned, the cancellation of Dharma & Greg, his support of Barack Obama, the competence of AOL Time Warner management, and the genesis of Two and a Half Men. The card is shown for only a few seconds at most, so longer messages require the viewer to pause at the right spot or visit Lorre's website where he posts the cards. CBS has censored Lorre's vanity cards on several occasions; Lorre posts both the censored and uncensored versions of the cards. During Charlie Sheen's controversial departure from Two and a Half Men in 2011, Lorre referenced Sheen in several cards. Lorre used the vanity card for the series finale, "Of Course He's Dead", to address the circumstances of Sheen's absence from the episode. Lorre published a compilation of his vanity cards in a coffee table book titled ''What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Bitter, released on October 16, 2012. The book takes its title from Vanity Card #1, which first aired following the first episode of Dharma & Greg'' on September 24, 1997. During The Big Bang Theory episode titled "The Hook-Up Reverberation", Vanity Card #463 was displayed. It discussed Lorre's lost or matured angst along with the news that he would stop writing the vanity cards. Vanity card #464 was shown after the next episode, stating it was his last and that he felt like they would not be missed. However, he resumed the cards. Card #493 on March 5, 2015, was a tribute to the late Leonard Nimoy, who had guest-starred on the show as the voice of Sheldon's conscience three years earlier. When Channing Dungey, chairwoman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Studios discussed the reemergence of the sitcom in a February 2023 Deadline article, Deadline opined: "There are fewer and fewer younger writers that are attracted to the form, however, making finding the next Chuck Lorre trickier," with Dungey commenting "I worry that it’s becoming a bit of a lost art". When Lorre read this, he used Vanity Card #723 to ask "The next Chuck Lorre?! What the &$@? is wrong with the one you have now?!". Lorre created a special, unnumbered vanity card for Bookie, his first show released exclusively to streaming television. In the vanity card, Lorre remarked on the irrelevancy of writing vanity cards in an age where most streaming platforms encourage credits-skipping, remarking "Why on earth am I writing vanity cards for BOOKIE?" and "If a vanity card is written on MAX, and no one reads it, was it amusing?". This vanity card on the 7th episode of Bookie, titled "The Super Bowl: God's Gift to Bookies", which aired on December 21, 2023, on MAX, was dedicated to Marvin Miles, who died on August 3, 2023, at the age of 72. The tombstone reads: "R.I.P. Marvin Miles (October 6, 1950–August 3, 2023)". The vanity card reads: "In Memory of "Marvelous" Marvin Miles". Lorre discusses about algorithm, or bot, or some sort of silicon-based magical genie to secure the future of ''Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, because Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage'' premiered on October 17, 2024 on CBS. Later in the season, he used the vanity card to express his gratitude to the Los Angeles Fire Department for saving his home during the 2025 California wildfires. ==Selected credits==

Lorre won BMI Television Music Awards in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009 for Two and a Half Men. On March 12, 2009, Lorre received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard. Three months later, Lorre received an honorary degree from the State University of New York at Potsdam and gave a keynote address at the graduation. In March 2012, Lorre was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. Lorre has won Golden Globe Awards for Roseanne (1993) and Cybill (1996). ==Personal life==

Lorre was first married to his business partner Paula Smith in 1979. They ended both partnerships after 13 years and the births of their two children. He was married to Karen Witter, an actress, model and author. They divorced in July 2010 after a decade's marriage. From 2010 to 2011, he was in a relationship with Emmanuelle Vaugier, a Canadian actress and model, who appeared in 12 episodes of Two and a Half Men. In September 2018, Lorre married Arielle Mandelson, a wellness influencer. Lorre filed for divorce in 2022. The divorce was finalized in February 2024. He has publicly discussed his decades of struggle with the autoimmune disease ulcerative colitis, along with depression, anxiety, and bouts of anger or rage, saying, "Put me in paradise and I will focus on the one thing that will make me angry." In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he said, "I am wired on some deep level to seek out something to be worried and obsess about." He lost his sense of smell due to a broken septum as a result of a drunken fight, which was finally repaired several years later. ==References==