Judith Regan

Judith Regan
Born	Judith Regan (1953-08-17) 17 August 1953 Massachusetts
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Publisher
Children	2 children

Judith Regan (born August 17, 1953, in Massachusetts) is an American editor, producer, book publisher, and television and radio talk show host.

Early life

Regan was born on August 17, 1953, and grew up in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and Bay Shore, Long Island. She graduated from Bay Shore High School in 1971. She attended Vassar College, receiving her degree in English and Art History in 1975. She went on to study art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and voice with a Juilliard School of Music instructor. In 1977, she was recruited by The National Enquirer while working at Harvard University's Institute of Politics.

She is the mother of a son and a daughter and lives in New York City and Los Angeles.

Career

Early career

In the early 1980s, Regan wrote for and edited a number of publications and produced a number of television shows. In the mid 1980s, she signed a major six-figure deal with Simon & Schuster to write two books, including a study of the history of the American family. She later canceled the contract in order to stay home with her young son, who had suffered a devastating head injury after being hit by a drunken driver. Simon & Schuster then offered her a job as an editor and she accepted provided she could work from home in order to care for her son.

While at Simon & Schuster, Regan worked with a wide range of authors, from Howard Stern to Rush Limbaugh, while discovering and editing novelists such as Wally Lamb, Walter Kirn, and Douglas Coupland. New York Magazine wrote,"Judith is, hands down, the most successful editor in the book business; not only has she sold millions of pallets of books, but she's put a decided spin on the culture, too (she almost single-handedly moved Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern off of the radio and out into the mass market), but she isn't just Rush and Howard; her oeuvre includes O.J. prosecutor Christopher Darden, Gen-Xer Douglas Coupland, Oprah novelist Wally Lamb, and diet-category-killer The Zone). She is said to be responsible for a king's ransom of the HarperCollins bottom line." Judith also had her own imprint, ReganBooks, for fourteen years at HarperCollins. Regan created a line of books with over one billion dollars in sales.

From 1994 to 2004, Regan hosted a number of talk shows, including her own Judith Regan Tonight, a weekend talk show on the Fox News Channel.

From 2000 to 2002 she dated former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, and portrayed herself as the victim when he did not leave his wife for her. At one point Judith offered him a $1,000,000.00 to leave his wife, but he did not.

Regan Books

Regan's first acquisition was an unknown first-time novelist named Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. The book went on to sell over 10 million copies.

Additional books she created, art directed, marketed, edited and produced include Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Wicked and Son of a Witch, also by Gregory Maguire; Stupid White Men by Michael Moore; Private Parts and Miss America by Howard Stern; The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss; Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee; Shabby Chic by Rachel Ashwell; She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb; Juiced by Jose Canseco; Domicilium Decoratus by Kelly Wearstler; Shampoo Planet and Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland; Ruby Ridge and Land of the Blind by Jess Walter and American Soldier by Tommy Franks.

In 2006, Fox announced that Regan had interviewed O.J. Simpson for over four hours and had gotten Simpson to confess to the notorious 1994 murders of which he had been acquitted. The confession was to air on the Fox network and Regan was to publish O.J. Simpson's written confession as a book entitled If I Did It.

After harsh criticism, News Corporation cancelled both the book and the interview with Simpson that was to air on the Fox Network. The book went on to be published and became a #1 bestseller. They fired Regan and Regan sued and won a reported $25 million for defamation and wrongful dismissal.

Radio show

Regan hosts a general interest talk radio show on Sirius and XM Satellite Radio.

In popular culture

A 2007, season-17 episode of Law & Order titled "Murder Book" (episode 387–1716) features a character (Serena Darby) who is based loosely on Regan.

In a 2005, season-4 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent called "My Good Name," the media adviser to a Bernie Kerik-like character takes a phone call from a woman named "Judith" modeled after Regan.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, she was parodied in a sketch in a season-12 episode (#1207) of the television show MADtv. In the sketch, two actors appear, one playing her and another playing O.J. Simpson.

In 2010, Regan appeared as a client on season 4 of Bravo TV's reality show Millionaire Matchmaker.

In 2012, Regan appeared on Dr. Drew on the issue of single-mother child rearing.

In 2012, Regan made several appearances on The Joy Behar Show.

Film and Television Production

Ruby Ridge. Executive Producer. CBS mini-series. 1996.

Living Out Loud. Actress, Cameo. 1998.

Growing Up Gotti. Executive Producer, A&E. 2004-2006.

When the World Came to Town. Universal. (in turnaround)

Custody. Dreamworks. (in turnaround)

The Dive. Producer with James Cameron and Barry Josephson. (in development)

I Know This Much Is True. Producer. Fox Studios. (in development)

External links

• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Judith Regan on Charlie Rose

• Judith Regan at the Internet Movie Database
• Judith Regan collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• What Do Rush, Howard, Beavis and Butt-Head Have in Common? Among Other Things, the Brashest Editor in America, People magazine, February 14, 1994