After World War II Brinkley worked in Chicago as a staff writer at
WGN Radio and as a Chief Writer at
CBS Radio. In 1950 he moved to Southern California where he began an illustrious career as a television scenarist, writing over 400 teleplays for such shows as
The Untouchables,
The Fugitive,
Have Gun, Will Travel,
Kraft Suspense Theatre,
The F.B.I.,
The Virginian,
Ben Casey,
Bat Masterson,
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,
Rawhide,
Ironside,
The Name of the Game and many others. After serving as producer on the
Executive Suite series, Brinkley wrote and produced a number of television pilots, one of which was
Trapper John, M.D.. The series ran for seven years on CBS, accumulating high ratings and numerous awards for its explorations of such controversial issues as gay rights, women's rights, euthanasia, nuclear disarmament, the right to die and animal research. As one of the first series on US prime time television to deal with the AIDS problem,
Trapper John, M.D. was awarded a citation of excellence by the city of Los Angeles. With Brinkley as executive producer, the show was also lauded for employing female writers and directors and for hiring disabled actors. Don and
Frank Glicksman, his co-creator and partner on
Trapper John, M.D. also teamed up for the highly successful series,
Medical Center, which Brinkley produced. Over the series' seven-year span, he also wrote 45 original episodes. One of them was directly responsible for strengthening the California laws regarding discrimination against cancer patients. Because of its social and political impact, that particular episode was cited by the California Legislature and awarded a certificate of merit by the American Cancer Society. Another of Brinkley's
Medical Center scripts was chosen "Best Dramatic Television Show" at the Monte Carlo Film Festival. In 1996 he published a thriller novel called
A Lively Form of Death. In 1998 he wrote
Prisoner of Justice (The Trials of Doctor Mudd), a drama in two acts. In July 1988 the Museum of Broadcasting in New York set aside two nights to honor Don Brinkley with a retrospective of his career in television. In his speech to the museum's audience, Don stated that after almost fifty years as a writer/producer, "I've already become what I'm going to be". ==Early life==