Esther Mayesh was born in New York City. Her Turkish-born father was a florist and her Greek-born mother a housewife. When Esther was an infant her family moved to Los Angeles where her father owned a flower shop. As a child, Esther was an avid reader and had received a certificate for reading 374 books in one year. Her imagination was peaked by everything from The Bible to The Arabian Nights. As a barter arrangement, her father would give a typewriter store fifty cents worth of flowers per week in exchange for a Remington typewriter so Esther could write. "When I was a kid, my great-aunts would congregate at the house and you'd look at the most staid, wonderful women who told stories that would put Jackie Collins to shame." At 15, she won a scholarship to the University of Southern California, where she earned a degree in comparative literature.

Richard Shapiro was born in Los Angeles, where his father was a men's clothier and his mother a housewife. He began writing short stories in high school but was unable to land a writing job after earning a bachelor's degree in English from UCLA in 1956. In 1959 he sold his first television script for the series Manhunt.

Richard and Esther met in a writing class at UCLA in 1956 and dated for four years before getting married. During their first year of marriage, they wrote one script, and they couldn't sell it. They did manage to get an agent and began churning out TV and B movie scripts but nothing ever got released. At that time, Esther was working as a substitute teacher and Richard was delivering lighting fixtures for his uncle's company for $70-a-week. Their first breakthrough was in 1964 when they were contracted by Warner Brothers for $700-a-week.

During the 1960s they wrote for shows like Bonanza and Route 66. Richard also wrote several episodes of Ironside starring Raymond Burr. In 1969, on the advice of a friend they took a $3000-a-week job writing for the popular daytime soap opera Love of Life but quit after seven months because they couldn't handle the unrelenting pressure and returned to prime time.

In 1976, Richard was completely devastated by the final product of his screenplay for The Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday that he and Esther packed up their daughters Florie and Eden and moved to Europe . They spent a short time in Turkey and Greece before settling in London. The climate of both the weather and the television industry got cold and ten months later the Shapiros returned to Hollywood with nothing but the determination to never write anything again that they didn't produce.

By 1977 Esther had become the Vice-President of Miniseries for ABC and had helped usher in rating winners such as Masada and Inside the Third Reich. She left the job two years later with a group of new skills such as cutting deals, casting and hiring and firing. Those skills would soon come in very handy after teaming with Spelling on Dynasty.

Aside from Dynasty, the Shapiros were also responsible for the creation of two other prime time soaps; Emerald Point N.A.S. premiered in 1984 and The Colbys in 1985. Emerald Point focused on a Navy Admiral and his lust-filled daughters. Unfortunately neither series gained the momentum that Dynasty did and were cancelled within a few seasons.

With Dynasty behind them, Esther and Richard are still very involved with the entertainment industry and run their own company Richard and Esther Shapiro Entertainment in Beverly Hills, California.

Judith A. Moose

Glamour, Greed & Glory: Dynasty  

Writer - filmography:

Living the Life (2000) (screenplay)
The Colony (1996) (TV) (written by)

Dynasty: The Reunion (1991) (TV) (written by)
Blood Ties (1991) (TV) Richard Shapiro

When We Were Young (1989) (TV)... aka That Magic Moment 

"The Colbys" (1985) TV Series (creator)... aka Dynasty II: The Colbys (original title)

"Dynasty" (1981) TV Series (creator)

"East of Eden" (1981) (mini) TV Series
The Cracker Factory (1979) (TV)

Intimate Strangers (1977) (TV)

Minstrel Man (1977) (TV)

Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975) (TV)
"Longstreet" (1971) TVSeries (writer)

"Land of the Giants" (1969) (TV)
"Tarzan" (1968) (writer)

"The Iron Horse" (1967) (writer)

Producer - filmography:

The Motel (2005) (executive producer)

Angel with an Attitude (2000) (associate producer)

Living the Life (2000) (producer)
Star Maps (1997) (executive producer)

The Colony (1996) (TV) (executive producer)

Blood Ties (1991) (TV) (executive producer)
When We Were Young (1989) (TV) (executive producer)... aka That Magic Moment

Cracked Up (1987) (TV) (executive producer)

"The Colbys" (1985) TV Series (executive producer)... aka Dynasty II: The Colbys (original title)

"Dynasty" (1981) TV Series (executive producer)
Intimate Strangers (1977) (TV) (producer)

The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday (1976) (associate producer)

Miscellaneous Crew - filmography:

Chuck&Buck (2000) (special thanks)

Star Maps (1997) (special thanks)

Herself/Himself - filmography:

When Shoulderpads Ruled the World (2002) (TV) .... Herself/Himself

Intimate Portrait: Linda Evans (2000) (TV) .... Herself/Himself
"The E! True Hollywood Story" - Dynasty (TV) .... Herself/Himself (Writer/Producer)