David Jacobs (writer)

David Jacobs (born August 12, 1939 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American television writer best known as the creator of and writer for the long-running CBS-TV nighttime soap opera/drama series Dallas and Knots Landing, as well as the executive producer and writer of the 1986 CBS-TV movie Dallas: The Early Years.

David Jacobs was the elder of two children (with a younger sister) in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. His Jewish parents were of modest means, and Jacobs's father worked as a household appliance salesman. Jacobs was educated at Baltimore City College High School, and received a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Soon after graduation, he moved to New York City, where he worked as an illustrator and researcher for Grolier's Encyclopedia. He soon branched out as a freelance writer of nonfiction articles, the best known of which concerned the architect and inventor Buckminster Fuller. He also wrote a children's book on the great artists of the Renaissance.

His marriage to actress Lynn Pleshette produced one child, his daughter Albyn, but ended in divorce. Later, he married his current wife Diana, with whom he has two children, Aaron and Molly. Jacobs moved to Los Angeles to be closer to his daughter, and tried his hand at screenwriting. His script for a proposed "Houston" later was adapted for the successful Dallas series.