Sara Finney-Johnson

Sara Finney-Johnson
Born
Sara Vernetta Finney

(1957-01-25) January 25, 1957 (age 67)
Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Occupation(s)Television producer, writer
Years active1984–present
Spouse(s)Robert Lee Johnson, Jr.
(m. 2002; died 2014)

Sara Vernetta Finney-Johnson (born January 25, 1957) is an American television producer, writer, and playwright. She is best known as the co-creator, with Ralph Farquhar and Vida Spears, of the UPN sitcoms Moesha, starring Brandy, and The Parkers, starring Countess Vaughn and Mo'Nique.

Before Moesha, Finney-Johnson and Spears had been a long-term writing team, the first African-American female writing team in the television industry..[1] Her other credits as a writer include The Jeffersons, 227, and The Parent 'Hood. Along with Spears, she served as a writer and story editor on The Facts of Life and Family Matters, where they also later served as producers.[2]

Born in Mobile, Alabama and raised in Los Angeles, California, Finney-Johnson is a graduate of the University of Southern California.[3] In addition to her work in television, Finney-Johnson also works in theater as a playwright and producer. With Erwin Washington, she founded the Los Angeles Black Playwrights group in 1986.[3]

Finney was married to Robert Lee Johnson, Jr., a financial broker and artist; he died in 2014.[4]

  1. ^ Wolff, Jurgen; Cox, Kerry (2011-05-30). Successful Scriptwriting: How to write and pitch winning scripts for movies, sitcoms, soaps, serials and v ariety shows. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-59963-482-1.
  2. ^ Adamo, Gregory (2010). African Americans in Television: Behind the Scenes. Peter Lang. pp. 36–38. ISBN 978-1-4331-1039-9.
  3. ^ a b "Not-So-Simple Sara". www.backstage.com. 2004-01-21. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  4. ^ "robertljohnson". episcopalnews.ladiocese.org. Retrieved 2020-08-22.