Born and raised in Coral Gables, Florida, Ruppenthal received an A.B.
Degree from Harvard University in 1976 where he was an Editor of the Harvard Lampoon as well as a member of The Delphic Club and The Hasty Pudding where he performed in three of the famous Hasty Pudding travesty musicals.
Following Harvard he worked for a time in New York City in advertising before moving to California to pursue a writing career.
[1][2] Amongst his vast resume as a television producer, Ruppenthal has served as a producer/co-producer for the NBC-TV series Quantum Leap, as co-executive producer of The Outer Limits and Silk Stalkings (which he also wrote scripts for) TV series, also as supervising producer of ABC-TV's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (of also he wrote episodes for), CBS-TV's Touched by an Angel, Harts of the West and Covington Cross; and has writing credits for Blade: The Series, Avalon: Beyond the Abyss, NBC's The Pretender, FOX-TV's The X-Files, CBS-TV's Touched by an Angel, Harts of the West, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., Covington Cross, ABC-TV's Moonlighting, Sledge Hammer!
[2] Ruppenthal currently resides in Baltimore, where he continues to write for television and Works for LAUSD at Berendo Middle Schoolin (the Pico-Union District) and the UCLA Extension School.