2017 Award Recipient

Veteran television writer and former Writers Guild of America West Board of Directors member Dan Wilcox has been named the recipient of the 2017 Morgan Cox Award in recognition of his exemplary service to the Guild. He will be honored at the 2017 Writers Guild Awards L.A. ceremony on Sunday, February 19.

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“Dan Wilcox has been, in a sustained and deeply moving way, a voice for the voiceless. His work, at once passionate and effective, has been on behalf of those who might otherwise lack the power to make themselves fully heard. For more than a decade he’s devoted countless hours to the widest array of essential Guild committees: it’s often seemed that the way to get Dan to do something is to assure him that the task will be thankless. This award is a way for all of us to acknowledge his extraordinary devotion to his fellow writers and their Guild,” said WGAW President Howard A. Rodman.

In addition to serving several terms on the WGAW’s Board of Directors (2003-04; 2005-13), Wilcox has also served on numerous Guild committees over the years, including: Board Nominating (2014), Board Organizing (2005-07), Committee Advisory Panel (2005-present; Co-Chair 2012-13), Credits Review Committee Review (2003-05), Daytime Committee (2006-12), Foreign Employment Task Force (2009-present), International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG Delegate, 2006), Jobs (2010-12), Member Representation (2010-11), National Council (Alternate, 2005-11; Delegate, 2011-13; Chair, 2013), New Member (2011-15), Newswriters Committee (2006-7), Officers Nominating (2004; Chair), Organizing (2004-05), PBS Negotiating 2005-07, 2009), and Waiver (2003-present).

During the WGAW’s 2007 contract negotiations cycle, he served on the Guild’s MBA Negotiating Committee (2007-08) and was a Strike Captain during the 2007-08 writers’ strike, as well as Co-Chair of the Guild’s Strike Rules Compliance Committee (2007-08).

Under the auspices of the Guild’s Inclusion and Equity Department, Wilcox currently serves as the Chair of the Career Longevity Committee (2009-present; Co-Chair 2013-15) and continues to serve on the Writer Access Project Advisory Committee (2008-present). He also served on the Podcast Advisory Committee (2015-present) during the “3rd and Fairfax” podcast’s first-year launch – and has been a member of the Guild’s Animation Writers Caucus since 2004.

A WGA member since 1965, Wilcox is best known as a writer on the acclaimed CBS series, M*A*S*H, penning numerous episodes of the hit show from 1979-1983. For his work on the Korean War-era dramedy, Wilcox shared three Emmy nominations – for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 1981 for the memorable episode “Death Takes a Holiday” (Teleplay by Mike Farrell, John Rappaport, Dennis Koenig, Story by Thad Mumford & Dan Wilcox and Burt Metcalfe), and Outstanding Comedy Series in 1982 and 1983. Wilcox also won a Writers Guild Award in Episodic Comedy for the M*A*S*H episode “Are You Now, Margaret?” (shared with co-writer Thad Mumford), as well as WGA Episodic Comedy noms in 1981 (“Bottle Fatigue,” co-written by Mumford), 1982 (“A War for All Seasons,” co-written by Mumford), and 1984, for the show’s ratings-shattering 1983 final episode, “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” – still the most-watched series finale in TV history – in addition to a 1982 WGA Episodic Drama nom for the episode “Bless You, Hawkeye” (co-written by Mumford).

His TV writing credits include shows such as Alice, Good Times, Angie, The New Little Rascals, The Waverly Wonders, and America 2Night, for which he shared a 1978 Emmy nom for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series. Early in his career, Wilcox won a 1970 Emmy Award for writing on Sesame Street (Outstanding Achievement in Children’s Programming – Individuals).

His other writing credits include The Duck Factory, Newhart, FM, Murder, She Wrote, Growing Pains, Diagnosis Murder, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Cosby, and Becker. Wilcox also co-wrote the “Hard Times” episode of ABC’s acclaimed sequel miniseries, Roots: The Next Generation (Teleplay by Wilcox and Thad Mumford).

The Morgan Cox Award honors that WGAW member whose vital ideas, continuing efforts, and personal sacrifice best exemplify the ideal of service to the Guild. During his lifetime, Cox devoted his professional career to serving the Guild, working to ensure television writers were included under WGA jurisdiction. Previous recipients include Del Reisman, Frank Pierson, Carl Gottlieb, Patric M. Verrone, Daniel Petrie, Jr., Thomas Cook, Jeff Melvoin, and Arthur Sellers.