Carl Gottlieb (born 18 March 1938) is an American screenwriter, actor, comedian and executive. He is probably best known for co-writing the screenplay for Jaws, as well as directing the 1981 low-budget cult film Caveman.
Gottlieb was born in New York City, the son of Elizabeth, a medical administrative assistant, and Sergius M. Gottlieb, an engineer. After studying drama at Syracuse University, he became a member, in the 1960s, of the San Francisco improvisational comedy troupe "The Committee". They made one feature film: A Session with the Committee.
He began writing comedy for TV, contributing to The Bob Newhart Show (1972), All in the Family, and The Odd Couple. Minor acting roles have included M*A*S*H and Clueless.
Gottlieb also cowrote David Crosby's two autobiographies, 1989's "Long time Gone" and 2006's "Since Then".
Gottlieb was hired as an actor to appear as Meadows, the editor of the local newspaper, in Jaws. He was hired by his friend, Steven Spielberg, to redraft the script, adding more dimensions to the characters, particularly humour. Ironically, his redrafts reduced the role of Meadows (who still appears in the Town Hall corridor and the Tiger Shark scene).
He wrote a book, The Jaws Log, about the notoriously difficult production of the film. Bryan Singer has referred to it as being "like a little movie director bible".
He was also enlisted under similar circumstances to work on the Jaws 2 screenplay. He also co-wrote the screenplays for The Jerk and Jaws 3-D. Gottlieb contributes to Jaws related activities, such as interviews (including for the upcoming The Shark is Still Working) and attended JawsFest on Martha's Vineyard in June 2005.
He joined the Writers Guild of America in 1968 after becoming interested in Guild politics and being of service to fellow writers after writers' strikes in the 1970s and 1981. He ran for the Board of Directors in 1983, and has been re-elected for numerous terms ever since, including two stints as vice-president (1991-1994). He was again appointed VP of the Writers Guild of America, west in 2004.
