Dorothy Ann Purser is a screenwriter who was born in Hammond, Louisiana

Hammond, Louisiana

Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...

. Purser is best known for her work on the television series Days of our Lives

Days of our Lives

Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...

as the head writer and co-writer, and on the television series Guiding Light

Guiding Light

Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...

as head writer. She has been nominated for seven awards, and has received two including a Daytime Emmy.

Works

During the 1950s, Purser wrote episodes for the television series Guiding Light

Guiding Light

Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...

. She served as both the head writer and co-writer for the television series Days of our Lives

Days of our Lives

Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...

during the 1960s, receiving several Daytime Emmy nominations and two awards for episodes she wrote. She also wrote for the series One Life to Live

One Life to Live

One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...

.

Awards and recognition

As a television writer, Purser won two major awards and was nominated for seven others. The first of her two major awards came in the form of a 1993 Daytime Emmy for "Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team" for a 1952 episode of The Guiding Light. Purser also received a 2000 WGA Award in the category of "Daytime Serials" for a 1965 episode of Days of our Lives, which she helped to write. She was unsuccessfully nominated for six Daytime Emmys for "Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team": a 1990 nomination of a 1968 episode of One Life to Live, a 1992 nomination for an episode of The Guiding Light, and nominations in the years 1994, 1997, 1998, and 1999 of Days of our Lives episodes from the 1965 season. Purser was also nominated for the 2002 WGA Award for a 1965 episode of Days of our Lives.

Positions Held

Another World

Another World (TV series)

Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...

• Head Writer
  Head writer
  A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits, but in prime time series this function is generally performed by an...
  
  : 1983 - June 1984
• Co-Head Writer: 1983 (with Robert Soderberg)
• Story Consultant: 1982
• Writer: 1979 - 1980

Days of our Lives

Days of our Lives

Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...

• Writer: 1960s, 1988–1991, 1996–2001

Guiding Light

Guiding Light

Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...

• Head Writer
  Head writer
  A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera genre, as well as with sketch comedies and talk shows that feature monologues and comedy skits, but in prime time series this function is generally performed by an...
  
  : 1952 - 1958
• Writer: 1992 - 1995

One Life to Live

One Life to Live

One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...

• Writer: 1968

The Doctors

• Writer: 1980 - 1982

Ryan's Hope

Ryan's Hope

Ryan's Hope is an American soap opera, revolving around 13 years of trials and tribulations within a large Irish American family in the Riverside district of New York City. It aired from July 7, 1975 to January 13, 1989 on ABC...

• Writer: 1985 - 1987

As the World Turns

As the World Turns

As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...

• Writer: 1970's