Biography for
Dick Wolf (I)

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Often uses guest appearances as springboards for actors into regular cast roles.

Does not like to use establishing shots in his shows. He believes that this gets in the way of dialogue and fitting a good story into an episode.

Trivia

Attended prep school, which served as basis later for his School Ties (1992) screenplay; also attended University of Pennsylvania.

Father was an advertising executive, mother a housewife.

Worked as copywriter and/or producer of over 100 TV commercials, 1969-76. Children: Olivia, Sarina and Elliot.

Producer Dick Wolf is old friends with producer Tom Fontana. They often use actors from each other's TV series, usually resulting in the actors working on two shows at once. Examples are J.K. Simmons on "Law & Order" (1990) and "Oz" (1997), Christopher Meloni and Dean Winters on "Oz" (1997) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999), and Kathryn Erbe on "Oz" (1997) and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (2001). Richard Belzer famously leaped from producers' show to show as Detective John Munch.

Was an altar boy at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York back when Cardinal Spellman was Archbishop.

Is a close friend of famous crime novelist James Ellroy. Wolf even hired Ellroy's best friend, LAPD Homicide Detective William Stoner, as a technical advisor on his TV show "Dragnet" (2003).

Ranked #50 in the Power Rankings and #12 in the Money Rankings on Forbes' 2006 Celebrity 100 list, with $70 million in earnings, primarily from the syndication of the various "Law & Order" shows.

Was a member of Zeta Psi fraternity while a student at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1995, was presented with the Governors Award by the New York chapter of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for being "a creative force in television for 25+ years".

Has four children in all, three with his wife Christine Marburg, Elliot, Olivia and Serena, and one with Noelle Lippman, a newborn in 2007.

Claims the scariest movie he has ever seen is Roman Polanski's Repulsion.

Personal Quotes

(talking to critics about his 'Law and Order' franchise) "You guys don't report the financial aspects of how successful the brand is. The only reason the brand is that successful -- it's show business. No show, no business. You've got an actress sitting up here (Mariska Hargitay) who has received two consecutive Emmy nominations for a show ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") that everybody would describe as mature. I didn't see that much fuss made about it. You read about who's hot, who's not. These shows are never mentioned. We're not looking to be the hot show. That's not what the 'Law & Order' brand is about. It's about longevity and about repeatability and about staying on the air and being a profit center for NBC for years to come."

"Desperate Housewives is a cultural phenomenon. But, in my mind, it's a sprinter. These shows (the Law & Order shows) are marathon runners. These shows are designed to run for unreasonable periods of time."

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