Paul Avila Mayer

For the German cardinal (1911-2010), see Paul Augustin Mayer.

Paul Avila Mayer (May 28, 1928 - July 10, 2009) was an American television writer and producer. His father was the late screen writer Edwin Justus Mayer, and his daughter is director Daisy von Scherler Mayer.

Positions held

• Executive Producer on Ryan's Hope (1975–81)
• Co-head writer on Where the Heart Is (1971–73), Love of Life (1973–75), Ryan's Hope (1975–82, 1983, 1988–89), Search for Tomorrow (1985)
• Writer on Where the Heart is (1970–1971)
• Adaptation on Six Characters in Search of an Author (1976)

Awards and nominations

Mayer was nominated for ten Daytime Emmy Awards in the categories Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, for his work on Ryan's Hope. He was nominated annually except for 1982, from 1977 to 1984, and won eight times in 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, and 1984. His first win was shared with Claire Labine and Mary Ryan Munisteri, while his first nomination was shared with Labine and Robert Costello.

After Ryan's Hope

According to an interview with co-creator Claire Labine, after the show's cancellation in 1989, Paul went back to school at the age of 56. He earned a Master of Social Work degree and then studied at a psychoanalytic institute, launching a successful career as a psychoanalyst. Mayer died on July 10, 2009 of a brain tumor.

External links

• Paul Avila Mayer at the Internet Movie Database
• Internet Broadway Database
• Ryan's Bar Online