Hubert Tamblyn Spiva, Jr., known as Tam Spiva (born 1932), is a television screenwriter in Pacific Palisades, California, who is best known for his work on ABC's The Brady Bunch situation comedy (1969–1974), starring Florence Henderson and Robert Reed, and CBS's family drama Gentle Ben (1967–1969) starring Dennis Weaver.
Spiva is originally from the small city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana. His parents, Hubert Spiva, Sr., a former foreign correspondent, and the former Lilla Stewart (1905–1959), operated the Webster Printing Company and the former Minden Herald and Webster Review newspapers, forerunners of the Minden Press-Herald. Lilla Spiva managed the papers after her husband's death in 1939 and was herself publisher and society editor of the Minden Herald and a member of the Louisiana Press Association. On January 23, 1960, the press association posthumously honored her for her journalistic accomplishments. Spiva's aunt was Mary Amanda Stewart (1903–1994), whom he visited in the Stewart home, later the Farley home, when he returned to his hometown.
Spiva was first married to the former Martha Emily Farrow Brown, and the couple had a daughter, Alizon Farrow Spiva. He then wed the former Laura Lee Dulberger, and the couple had a daughter, Mary Amanda, and a son, Reagan Anthony. He now lives with his third wife, Phyllis Ellen Spiva, and stepdaughter, Danielle. There are four living Spiva children including his stepdaughter, Danielle.
Spiva graduated from the defunct Western Military Academy in Alton in Madison County, Illinois, near St. Louis and then Northwestern University in Evanston, near Chicago. He also studied at the London School of Film Technique. His early free-lance writing was rewarded in the script for the 1965 film Island of the Lost. In addition to The Brady Bunch and Gentle Ben, Spiva garnered credits for two other ABC series, The FBI starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., and Dan August starring Burt Reynolds.
Here is a list of programs written by Spiva for The Brady Bunch:
- "Peter and the Wolf"
- "Tiki Caves"
- "Pass the Tabu"
- "A Fistful of Reasons"
- "The Slumber Caper"
- "Grand Canyon or Bust"
- "The Brady Braves"
- "Hawaii Bound"
- "The Big Sprain"
and for Gentle Ben:
- "Jennifer"
- "Mama Jolie"
- "The Wayward Bear, Part 1"
- "The Wayward Bear, Part 2"
- "Fire in the Glades"
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Famous quotes containing the word tam:
“O I forbid you, maidens a
That wear gowd on your hair,
To come, or gae by Carterhaugh,
For young Tom-lin is there.”
—Unknown. Tam Lin (l. 14)