Allen Rucker was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, raised in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and has an MA in Communication from Stanford University, an MA in American Culture from the University of Michigan, and a BA in English from Washington University, St. Louis.

      He is the author or co-author of nine books of humor and non-fiction. (see books). “The Sopranos Family Cookbook,” one of three books he’s written about the Sopranos, was a New York Times #1 bestseller. The memoir co-written with country music star, Gretchen Wilson, “Redneck Woman,” is currently #29 on the New York Times bestseller list.

     As a TV writer-producer, he co-founded the experimental video group, TVTV, and has written numerous network specials, documentaries, and teleplays, including the series, “The History of White People In America,” with Martin Mull; “Christopher Reeve: A Celebration of Hope” (Emmy nominee); the original HBO movie, “Hometown Boy Makes Good,” starring Anthony Edwards; “CBS: The First Fifty Years;” “Big Guns Talk,” a history of the Western; and “Family Values: The Mob & The Movies.” 

    His most recent TV project is an adaptation of David Maraniss’s bestselling book on Vietnam, 1967, “Two Days in October,” originally broadcast on PBS’s “American Experience” in October, 2005. The highly-acclaimed program won both the 2006 George Peabody Award and the 2006 Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking.

    He is the recipient of the duPont-Columbia Journalism Award, the Writers Guild Annual Award, and two CableACE Awards, among others. In 2005, he received the special WGA Joan Young Award for career distinction as a writer with a disability. “The History of White People In America” was honored by the Museum of Television & Radio in 2001 and TVTV was given a full MTR retrospective in 2004.

    He also teaches at the USC School of Cinema-TV. He lives in LA with his wife, Ann-Marie. They have two sons.