# Rift Fournier

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**Rift Fournier** (May 16, 1936 – October 6, 2013) was an American writer, [screenwriter](/source/Screenwriter) and [television producer](/source/Television_producer). Fournier, who lost the ability to walk at 17 years old due to [polio](/source/Polio), had a long and diverse career in television.[1][2] He wrote episodes of numerous [television series](/source/Television_series), including *[Baretta](/source/Baretta)*, *[Charlie's Angels](/source/Charlie's_Angels)*, *[Highway to Heaven](/source/Highway_to_Heaven)*, *[Hell Town](/source/Hell_Town_(TV_series))*, *[Kojak](/source/Kojak)*, *[Matlock](/source/Matlock_(1986_TV_series))*, Charley Hannah, High Mountain Rangers and *[NYPD Blue](/source/NYPD_Blue)*.[1]

Fournier was born in 1936 in [Wichita, Kansas](/source/Wichita,_Kansas), and raised in both [Chicago](/source/Chicago) and [Omaha, Nebraska](/source/Omaha,_Nebraska).[1][2] His parents decided to call him "Rift" after a dispute over what they would name their son.[2] Fournier was acting and screenwriting at the [Omaha Community Playhouse](/source/Omaha_Community_Playhouse) by the time he was 13 years old.[2] He attended a [Jesuit](/source/Jesuit) school, where he excelled as an athlete.[2]

Fournier contracted polio during his junior year in high school.[2] On a Sunday morning in 1953, Fournier collapsed while getting out of bed to answer the telephone.[2] He never regained his ability to walk and remained in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.[1][2] Rift Fournier never let his [disability](/source/Disability) dissuade him from pursuing his career. In a 1986 interview with the Los Angeles Times, he said, "I didn't know [polio] was supposed to stop me from doing something,...You've heard the [joke](/source/Joke). 'I never knew I was poor.… ' Well, I never knew I was [handicapped](/source/Handicapped)."[1]

In 1963, Fournier began co-producing [The Mike Douglas Show](/source/The_Mike_Douglas_Show), which was created in [Cleveland, Ohio](/source/Cleveland,_Ohio), for syndication.[1]

Between 2004 and 2013, Fournier was an adjunct professor at [Lindenwood University](/source/Lindenwood_University). He died in [St. Louis, Missouri](/source/St._Louis,_Missouri), on October 6, 2013, at the age of 77.[1] Cause of death was cancer.

## References

1. Barnes, Mike (2013-10-11). ["TV Producer, Writer Rift Fournier Dies"](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tv-producer-writer-rift-fournier-dies-647299). *[The Hollywood Reporter](/source/The_Hollywood_Reporter)*. Retrieved 2013-11-03.

1. de la Vina, Mark (1986-08-15). ["Wheelchair-bound Writer-producer : Nobody Ever Took His Dreams Away"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-08-15-ca-3989-story.html). *[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times)*. Retrieved 2013-11-03.

## External links

- [Rift Fournier](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0288536/) at IMDb

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rift Fournier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rift_Fournier) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rift_Fournier?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.