Joyce Rebeta-Burditt

Joyce Rebeta-Burditt was an American writer.

A New York Times bestselling author, Rebeta-Burditt eventually moved from the literary world into television.

Rebeta-Burditt authored the ground-breaking roman a clef, The Cracker Factor, about a housewife who enters a mental hospital to treat her alcoholism. The 1977 Macmillan book became a New York Times bestseller and was made into a TV movie of the same name starring Natalie Wood. The lead character, Cassie Barrett, was based on Rebeta-Burditt’s early life as a young married raising three small children.

Rebeta-Burditt later worked in the television business, first as a programming executive at ABC and later as vice president of comedy development at NBC.

She wrote another novel in 1981 called Triplets.

Five years later, she wrote the screenplay for Under the Influence, a TV movie starring a very young Keanu Reeves about the impact of alcoholism on families. The movie also featured Andy Griffith, who requested that Rebeta-Burditt join the writing staff of his drama series Matlock.

Rebeta-Burditt ended up writing dozens of episodes for Matlock and Father Dowling Mysteries, before going on to create Diagnosis Murder in 1993. The series ran for eight seasons on CBS.

Rebeta-Burditt died June 2, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. She was 83.