Rita Lakin is an American screenwriter, with 474 produced television scripts spanning 30 productions. She is also a novelist and author of "The Only Woman In The Room," a memoire of her life as one of the first female show runners and one of the first women in television (released October 2015, Applause publishing). In fiction, Lakin created the Gladdy Gold Mystery seven-book series (published by Bantam Books), including Getting Old Is Murder, Getting Old Is The Best Revenge, and Getting Old Can Kill You.

Lakin began writing regularly during the early 1960s for such television shows as The Doctors, Dr. Kildare and Peyton Place. In 1968, she began working as story editor and head writer of The Mod Squad. In 1972, she created The Rookies. In 1977, she served as executive producer of the CBS TV adaptation of the 1954 film Executive Suite. She wrote numerous "Movies of the Week" including Women in Chains, and such miniseries as Strong Medicine and Voices of the Heart. In 1981, she developed the TV series adaptation and served as show-runner of Flamingo Road. In 1989, she co-created the medical drama Nightingales. She also wrote or co-authored two original theatrical plays, No Language But a Cry and Saturday Night at Grossinger's.