Perret, Gene: - Gene Perret taught himself to write comedy in the early 1960s by studying the technique and the writing style of the great comedians of the day, especially Bob Hope. This led to his writing comedy material for many nightclub performers, including Phyllis Diller and Slappy White. In 1968, Gene was signed to contribute to "The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show." That led to a television career writing for "The Jim Nabors Hour," "Laugh-In," "The New Bill Cosby Show," "The Carol Burnett Show" and others. Later, he produced such hits as "Welcome Back Kotter," "Three's Company," and "The Tim Conway Show." Gene also worked with Bob Hope on all of his personal appearances and TV specials for 38 years, the last 12 of which he served as Hope's head-writer. Perret has won three Emmys and one Writer's Guild Award. He is also a well respected teacher of comedy writing and is the author of over 45 books, including "The New Comedy Writing Step by Step" and "The Ten Commandments of Comedy."