Rose Leiman Goldemberg

Rose Marion Leiman Goldemberg (May 17, 1928 – July 21, 2025) was an American playwright, screenwriter, poet and author of fiction and non-fiction books and stories.

Goldemberg's Letters Home, about the life of Sylvia Plath and her mother, has been translated into numerous languages and been honored all over the world. Like Letters Home, Goldemberg's plays frequently incorporate biographical material, as with Sophie (1987), about entertainer Sophie Tucker; and Picon Pie (2004), about Yiddish theater actress Molly Picon. Her plays have been produced widely off-Broadway, in venues throughout the United States, and internationally.

Goldemberg's most prominent work for television was The Burning Bed (1984), a TV movie based on the true story of a survivor of domestic violence, played by Farrah Fawcett. Another well-known television movie written by Goldemberg, Stone Pillow (1985), starred Lucille Ball as a homeless woman. Other screenplays written by Goldemberg include Land of Hope (1976), and Mother and Daughter: The Loving War (1980). Goldemberg was more involved with the production and filming of television movies, mini-series, and shows than is typical for screenwriters, making cast recommendations and visiting the sets. Most of her screenplays are dramas.

Goldemberg also taught the subjects of English and Theater at the City College of New York and Fairleigh Dickinson University. She was a published author of such books as Adios, Hollywood and Antique Jewelry: A Practical & Passionate Guide. She was also an award-winning poet and author of short stories.

Rose Leiman was born on May 17, 1928 in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Staten Island, New York. She started writing at the age of five, and entered Brooklyn College in 1944 at the age of 16. After receiving her BA (magna cum laude) from Brooklyn College, she attended Ohio State University on a teaching assistantship and received her MA. Upon graduating she started working at the newly formed TV Guide, where she reviewed TV scripts and wrote plot summaries. It was there that she decided to become a screenwriter. She studied at the American Theatre Wing and Columbia University, and studied under Lee Strasberg and Ira Cirker. She began her screenwriting career by writing religious TV scripts for Pamela Ilott at CBS.

Goldemberg's Gandhiji was chosen for the O'Neill Conference in 1970. At the time, she was a mother and a full-time teacher, along with being a playwright. Gandhiji premiered in 1977 at Back Alley's downtown studio, 617 F St. NW, Washington D.C. It garnered a Robby Award, and helped to establish Goldemberg as a dramatist. Gandhiji was also honored in Burns Mantle's "Best Plays of 1982-1983."

Land of Hope was a pilot for a television series written by Goldemberg, which aired on the CBS network in 1976. It was about the immigrant experience in the United States. Land of Hope was Goldemberg's break into the television industry. Goldemberg's play Letters Home premiered as part of the Women's Project at the American Place Theatre in New York City in 1979. It dramatizes the correspondence between author Sylvia Plath and her mother. It was later staged at the Theatre at New End in London; Playbox Theatre in Melbourne; and in Paris; Copenhagen; Montreal; Tel Aviv; Los Angeles; and other cities. In 1986, French feminist film director Chantal Akerman directed it for film.

Goldemberg's Mother and Daughter: The Loving War is a TV movie first broadcast on the CBS network in 1980, which was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Best Drama Award. Goldemberg's television movie Born Beautiful was broadcast on the NBC network in 1982. The work took a critical view of the modeling industry.