Before she ended up in television, writer-producer Marta Kauffman had already developed a keen sense of character foibles and a firm grasp on the complexity of relationships. Along with her longtime creative soulmate, David Crane, the theater-bred Kauffman found a niche on the small screen, chronicling the humorous struggles of single dreamers. As a co-creator and producer of NBC’s decade-long sitcom, “Friends” (1994-2004), Kauffman found her greatest success by going home, hearkening back to her life as a struggling artist in New York City with the friends who doubled as an urban family.

Born