Mr. Baitz was born in 1961 in Los Angeles, and grew up there, and in Brazil and South Africa. He is the author of several acclaimed plays. These include "The Substance of Fire", "A Fair Country", and "Ten Unknowns", all of which were produced by Lincoln Center Theatre in New York. His most recent play, "The Paris Letter", was part of the 2004 opening season at The Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, before it's New York Premier at The Roundabout Theatre. Earlier work includes "The Film Society", "Mizlansky/Zilinsky" and "Three Hotels", as well as a new version of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, for The Geffen Theatre, (which was produced with Annette Bening in 1999 before a Broadway run in 2001). He is the recipient of a Rockefeller Foundation Award, a Drama Desk Award, is a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist for "A Fair Country." He won a Humanitas Award for the PBS-TV's "American Playhouse" version of "Three Hotels" which he also directed. His film work includes "People I know" (2003), which starred Al Pacino, and "The Substance of Fire" (1996), starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Ron Rifkin and Tim Hutton, which Mr. Baitz also produced. For television, he has written episodes of "The West Wing", and "Alias". He is currently creator of and executive producer for "Brothers & Sisters" , a pilot for ABC.
