---
name: "Joan Rater"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/joan-rater"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "6 August 1962"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-17T00:17:24.860570+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Joan Rater

Writer. Born 6 August 1962 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 6 August 1962, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

## Biography

Joan Rater is an American television writer and producer. She served as a writer on the medical drama series *Grey's Anatomy* from 2006, joining at the start of the second season alongside her husband Tony Phelan. The pair later became executive producers on the show and ran the writers' room with creator Shonda Rhimes, remaining until after the tenth season.

Rater has written for series including *Law & Order: Trial by Jury* (2005), *Madam Secretary* (2014–2015) and *Fire Country* (2022–). She co-created the miniseries *A Small Light* (2023) and the series *Fire Country* (2022), *Doubt* (2017), *Council of Dads* (2020) and *Sheriff Country* (2025). With the *Grey's Anatomy* team she received Emmy nominations in 2006 and 2007 for Outstanding Drama Series and a Writers Guild of America Award in 2006 for New Series.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, pasadenamag.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Grey's Anatomy* (2005), Fi1m 68, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/greys-anatomy.md)

## Also known for

- *Madam Secretary* (2014), Writer
- *Fire Country* (2022), Writer
- *A Small Light* (2023), Writer
- *Sheriff Country* (2025), Writer, Story

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/joan-rater