Samuel Garza Bernstein's life and writing reflect the wild intersections of modern life. He was born to an undocumented Mexican mother who everyone assumed was a white Texan, and a Jewish father who passionately supported the Palestinian cause in Egypt, where the family lived for a year when he was a kid. "I was six-years old in Cairo," Garza Bernstein says, "Surrounded by hot Egyptians, spinning fantasies and inventing myself." The family traveled all over the world—occasionally on the lam—and lived in Cairo, Honolulu, Austin, Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles, and Ft. Collins, Colorado.

His newest book Roddy McDowall: An Actor's Life has drawn raves from Carol Burnett, Julie Andrews, and Emma Thompson, among many others, and is in bookstores now. He is gearing up for the fourth season of 6-time Emmy Award-winning After Forever, after serving as co-showrunner and co-executive producer of the third season, now streaming on Amazon. His 2025 book, Cesar Romero: The Joker Is Wild, is a Foreword Magazine award-winner for Biography, and his non-fiction anthology Uncommon Heroes won a Stonewall Book Award from the American Library Association. His pilot for The Secret World of Danny Lopez was named a Writers Guild of America television comedy access project honoree but was also a drama winner at the New York Film Awards and a Content London International Drama Summit nominee for Best Pilot Script. He is also a well-regarded story consultant, working with clients in the United States, the U.K., and Europe.

He won Best Screenplay at the London Independent Film Awards for Elephant & Castle and a G.L.A.A.D. nomination for the Showtime film Bobbie's Girl, which also garnered its star Bernadette Peters an Emmy nomination. Episodic credits range from the CBS drama Judging Amy to Nickelodeon's Shimmer and Shine. With composer David Snyder he first adapted his non-fiction book Mr. Confidential as a stage musical, developing it at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and then directing its world premiere at Actors Theatre of Indiana.

Garza Bernstein started his career as an actor and singer, most notably performing in several productions of Evita as Eva's first conquest, the tango singer "Magaldi." He also served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for trans foster children in Los Angeles County for five years, created and co-chaired a writing mentorship program for public high school students for twelve years, and served as a youth facilitator for the Los Angeles LGBT Center for eight years. He and husband Ronald Shore have been together for over thirty years and split their time between LA and Porto, Portugal. They are currently the hostages of a pair of incorrigible dachshunds.

PRESS FOR RODDY McDOWALL: AN ACTOR'S LIFE:

Ann Pryor, Kensington Books (212) 407.1526 APryor@kensingtonbooks.com

Samuelgarzabernstein.com

samuel@samuelgarzabernstein.com

IMDb page

TCM