James Duff

• Name — James Duff • Born — 3 September 1955 • Birthplace — New Orleans, Louisiana • Education — Monterey High School, Coronado High School, Texas Tech University • Occupation — Playwright, television series creator • Years Active — 1992–present • Notable Works — Doing Time on Maple Drive, The Closer, Major Crimes, Sherlock & Daughter • Awards — * Primetime Emmy Award nomination (Doing Time on Maple Drive) • Edgar Award nomination (The Closer episode "Blue Blood") • Women's Image Network Award (The Closer, 2006) James Duff (born September 3, 1955) is an American television writer, producer and director. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and has written plays and television screenplays. He is credited as the creator of the TV series The Closer and Major Crimes.

Duff was born in New Orleans and grew up in multiple cities in Texas with his adoptive parents. He attended Monterey High School, where he studied theatre arts with Harlan Reddell, and later graduated from Coronado High School. Duff also studied theatre at Texas Tech University.

In 1992, Duff wrote the made-for-television drama film Doing Time on Maple Drive, which premiered on Fox and received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie. The following year, in 1993, he wrote the TV movie Without a Kiss Goodbye, a "fact-based drama about a mother who is falsely arrested and convicted of poisoning her infant." Duff also co‑wrote the short drama film A Song for You with Ken Martin, which starred Christopher Thornton and Mark Ruffalo. In 1995, Duff wrote the television film Betrayed: A Story of Three Women, described as a "well‑structured drama" featuring performances by Meredith Baxter and Swoosie Kurtz. The same year, Duff also wrote 919 Fifth Avenue, and served as creator and co‑executive producer of Long Island Fever. In the next year, Duff’s 1984 play Homefront was adapted into the 1996 drama war film The War at Home, directed by, starring, and co‑produced by Emilio Estevez, and also featuring Kathy Bates and Martin Sheen. In addition, Duff was co‑executive producer of the CBS project Texas Graces. In 1999, Duff worked as supervising writer on The WB series Popular, a position he held until 2001. In 2001, Duff wrote the episodes "My Best Friend's Wedding" for Felicity and "Fortunate Son" for Enterprise. The following year, in 2002, Duff collaborated on the CBS series The Agency, writing three episodes and serving as consulting producer. He also collaborated on the UPN series Wolf Lake, writing two episodes and acting as co‑executive producer the same year. Two years later, Duff created the American legal drama television series The D.A., which aired on ABC from March 19 until April 9, 2004. He wrote all four episodes, including "The People vs. Sergius Kovinsky," "The People vs. Patricia Henry," "The People vs. Oliver C. Handley," and "The People vs. Ahmed Abbas." Between 2005 and 2012, Duff co‑created and was showrunner of The Closer, produced by the Shephard/Robin Company with Warner Bros. Television and aired on TNT. Starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, the series ran for seven seasons. Duff wrote twenty episodes and directed four, and the show concluded in 2012 with the launch of its spin‑off Major Crimes. Following The Closer, Duff created the American police procedural television series Major Crimes, produced for TNT. Starring Mary McDonnell as Sharon Raydor, the series ran from 2012 to 2018. Across six seasons he wrote seven episodes and directed two, concluding after 105 episodes. Between 2018 and 2020, Duff was credited as executive producer on Star Trek: Discovery and co‑wrote the episode "Die Trying" with Sean Cochran, which aired on November 12, 2020. He also served as executive producer on Star Trek: Picard, writing the episodes "Remembrance" and "The End is the Beginning". Most recently, Duff served as showrunner on Sherlock & Daughter, a series by Brendan Foley based on the Sherlock Holmes stories. The show aired on The CW and Discovery+. He also wrote the episode "Sound Connections," directed by Bryn Higgins.

Duff is married to actor Phillip P. Keene, who plays Buzz Watson on The Closer and Major Crimes.

• Year — Title — Credited as • Writer — Producer — Director — Notes — Ref • 1992 — Doing Time on Maple Drive — TV movie • 1993 — Without a Kiss Goodbye — TV movie • 1993 — A Song for You — Short film • 1995 — Betrayed: A Story of Three Women — TV movie • 1995 — 919 Fifth Avenue — TV movie • 1995 — Long Island Fever — TV movie, co-executive producer • 1996 — The War at Home — Feature film, adapted from Duff's play Homefront • 1996 — Texas Graces — TV movie, co-executive producer • 1999–2001 — Popular — Supervising writer • 2001 — Felicity — Episode: "My Best Friend's Wedding" • 2001 — Enterprise — Episode: "Fortunate Son" • 2002 — The Agency — Wrote 3 episodes, consulting producer • 2002 — Wolf Lake — Wrote 2 episodes, co-executive producer • 2004 — The D.A. — Creator, executive producer • 2005–2012 — The Closer — Co-creator and showrunner, wrote 20 episodes, directed 4 episodes • 2012–2018 — Major Crimes — Creator and showrunner, wrote 7 episodes, directed 2 episodes • 2018–2020 — Star Trek: Discovery — Episode: "Die Trying", executive producer • 2020 — Star Trek: Picard — Executive producer, wrote "Remembrance" and "The End is the Beginning" • 2025 — Sherlock & Daughter — Showrunner