Steve Sohmer
Steve Sohmer (born June 26, 1941 in Savannah, Georgia) is a Shakespearean scholar, author of scholarly books and fiction, television writer and producer, and former network television and motion picture studio senior executive.
In 1966, his first novel, "The Way It Was" was published by Robert Gottlieb of Simon & Schuster. The book received positive reviews, and was chosen by The New York Times as one of the twenty best novels of the year. In 1967, Sohmer was named Creative Director of the Bureau of Advertising of the American Newspaper Publishers Association.
In 1972, Sohmer left the Bureau to establish his own media promotion firm in partnership with The Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company. For the next five years the New York-based company created slide and film sales presentations for several notable media clients.
In 1977, Sohmer was named Vice President, Marketing and Promotion, of the CBS Television Network. Sohmer supervised the marketing of CBS Entertainment, CBS News and CBS Sports. Sohmer's promotion launched Dallas, The Dukes of Hazzard, The Incredible Hulk, Alice, and other long-running hits. His movie marketing campaigns brought viewers to Skokie, Playing for Time and Fallen Angel.
In 1982, Sohmer moved to NBC Television as Executive Vice President in charge of marketing and promotion, Saturday morning programming, specials and daytime television. Sohmer launched hit series including Cheers, Family Ties, The A-Team and Remington Steele.
Sohmer went on to serve as President and Chief Operating Officer of Columbia Pictures and Executive Vice President at PAX TV and ABC Television. He created and served as writer-producer for the NBC miniseries Favorite Son and the award-winning NBC drama series Mancuso, F.B.I. starring Robert Loggia both based on his novel of the same title. Sohmer wrote and produced the NBC miniseries Tom Clancy's OP Center (1995) and created the drama series Twice in a Lifetime for PAX TV (1999).
In 1995, Sohmer earned the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford University. His area of concentration was Shakespeare. Since graduation, Sohmer has published many scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals as well as three scholarly books: Shakespeare's Mystery Play, Shakespeare for the Wiser Sort and Luther's Lives all from Manchester University Press.
Sohmer was married to soap opera star Deidre Hall for 10 years, after which they separated and later divorced.