Milt Rosen; Writer for Television

Milt Rosen, 77, writer who penned scripts for “Mr. Novak,” “Too Close for Comfort” and other television shows. Rosen moved to California in 1958 from the

Bronx, where he taught junior high school English. In between preparation for his classes, he wrote routines for stand-up comics. He had a long and varied career in television, writing for comedy, drama and variety shows, as well as one-liners for figures such as former California Gov. Pete Wilson, Milton Berle and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Among the shows he wrote for were “Tales of the Gold Monkey,” “Lewis & Clark,” “CHiPs,” “Kate McShane” and “The Flying Nun.” He worked on specials for such stars as Dean Martin and Andy Williams. He also was the author of 14 books, including “The Official Book of Insults” and “The Second Book of Insults,” which included such conversation stoppers as “he stays longer in an hour than most people do in a week.” Rosen died Friday at his home in Northridge.