Hank Steinberg

Born writer-producer Hank Steinberg made his mark on television juggling two larger-than-life biographical subjects, baseball legend Mickey Mantle and beloved politician Robert F. Kennedy, in the respective (but closely released) films "61" and "RFK." Steinberg pursued a move to serialized television some years later, meeting with mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer's TV company to discuss the possibility of creating a procedural drama. Any doubts the feature writer had about adjusting to the format were allayed when an executive suggested centering the show on missing-persons investigations, a concept Steinberg knew he could approach with his usual brand of psychological examination. With the help of a mentor-like co-creator in Ed Redlich ("Felicity"), Steinberg unleashed "Without a Trace," a rousing drama about the special FBI unit assigned to find people who have mysteriously disappeared. In the midst of the show's seven-season run, the scribe also launched the short-lived bank-robbery-aftermath series "The Nine" and served as a consulting producer on "Kings," an alternate-universe crime drama based on the biblical story of King David. Steinberg was a prominent voice for the Writers Guild of America during their 2007-2008 strike.