Joel Steiger

Joel Steiger loves a good mystery. A prolific writer and producer, he's worked on almost every major mystery and crime drama of the '80s and '90s, including "Matlock" and "Diagnosis Murder." Steiger started out as a writer-for-hire on prime-time soaps like "Dynasty" and "Knots Landing." After meeting fellow writer and producer Dean Hargrove on the action mystery series "Scarecrow and Mrs. King," Steiger would become a key figure in Hargrove's close-knit circle of writers and directors. During the late '80s, Steiger wrote and produced the popular "Perry Mason" series of TV movies, based on the courtroom drama starring Raymond Burr, and he helped Hargrove create "Jake and the Fatman," about the difficult relationship between a hard-nosed L.A. district attorney (William Conrad) and his easygoing investigative partner, Jake Styles (Joe Penny). Between 1986 and 1995, Steiger wrote and produced over 50 episodes of "Matlock" and served as a main staff writer on "Father Dowling Mysteries," about a Catholic priest (Tom Bosley) with a knack for discovering criminal activity. He later wrote and produced the "Jake and the Fatman" spin-off series, "Diagnosis Murder," with Dick Van Dyke playing a spry doctor who helps the police solve tough cases, and the TV movie sequel, "A Town Without Pity." Joel Steiger died on March 21, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA at the age of 79.