Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey is an American journalist and playwright. She studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and received her Bachelor's Degree from Hollins College, now Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia in 1960. In the same year she married Oliver Hailey, a playwright and the father of her daughters. She worked briefly in journalism and publishing before joining her husband in writing for film and television. They served as creative consultants for the popular television series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.