David Chase | |
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Born | David Henry Chase August 22, 1945 Mount Vernon, New York, U.S. |
Education | New York University (BA) Stanford University (MA) |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1974–present |
Known for | Creator of The Sopranos |
Spouse | Denise Kelly |
Children | 1 |
David Henry Chase [1] [2] (born August 22, 1945) is an American writer, producer, and director. He is best known for being the creator, head writer, and executive producer of the HBO drama The Sopranos , which aired for six seasons between 1999 and 2007. Chase has also produced and written for shows such as The Rockford Files , I'll Fly Away , and Northern Exposure . He created the original series Almost Grown which aired for 10 episodes in 1988 and 1989. He has won seven Emmy Awards. Chase's film debut came in 2012 with Not Fade Away , followed by The Many Saints of Newark (2021), a prequel film to the TV series The Sopranos.
Chase was born into a working-class Italian American family in Mount Vernon, New York, as an only child to Norma (née Bucco) and Enrico "Henry" Chase, both born in 1908. Norma was born in Essex County, New Jersey, as one of eleven children to Marian D'Agostino and Vito Bucco, who immigrated from Fossacesia, Abruzzo. [3] [4] Henry was born in Providence, Rhode Island, as one of seven children, the son of Teresa Melfi, who was married to Giovanni DeCesare, 17 years her senior. Henry and his sister Evelina (Evelyn), however, were the biological children of Giuseppe "Joseph" Fusco, a 23-year-old Italian immigrant who was lodging with the DeCesares since 1904. Following Evelyn's birth in 1910, Melfi and Fusco eloped to Newark, New Jersey, with their two biological children, whose surnames Melfi subsequently changed from DeCesare to Chase to obscure their background; the couple kept their own surnames and raised another five children under Fusco's name (although the 1940 census lists both their surnames as "Fusca"). [5] [6] [7]
His father owned Wright's Hardware in Verona, New Jersey. [8] [9] [10] He grew up in a small garden apartment in Clifton, New Jersey, [8] and in North Caldwell, New Jersey. [11] He grew up watching matinée crime films and was well known as a creative storyteller. [12]
He has stated that he had many problems with his parents when he was a child. [8] He says that his father was an angry man who belittled him constantly, and his mother was a "passive-aggressive drama queen" and a "nervous woman who dominated any situation she was in by being so needy and always on the verge of hysteria." He based The Sopranos character Livia Soprano on his mother, naming her after a maternal aunt. [13] [14]
Chase struggled with panic attacks and clinical depression as a teenager, something that he dealt with into adulthood. He graduated from high school in 1964 and attended Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where his depression worsened. "I slept 18 hours a day," he stated. He described his problems as "normal, nagging, clinical depression." [8] He also worked as a drummer during this period and aspired to be a professional musician. [12] After two years, he transferred to New York University where he chose to pursue a career in film—a decision that was not well received by his parents. He went on to attend Stanford University's School of Film, earning a Master of Arts degree in 1971. [15]
Chase started in Hollywood as a story editor for Kolchak: The Night Stalker and then produced episodes of The Rockford Files and Northern Exposure , among other series. He also worked as a writer of 19 episodes while on The Rockford Files—a show which he worked on in various capacities for more than four years. [8] He won several Emmy awards, including one for a television movie, Off the Minnesota Strip, the story of a runaway he scripted in 1980. [8] His first original created series was Almost Grown in 1988, with Eve Gordon and Timothy Daly. [16] Although the one-hour series was well received by critics, [17] only 10 episodes aired from November 1988 to February 1989. [18]
Chase worked in relative anonymity before The Sopranos debuted. [8] The story of The Sopranos was initially conceived as a feature film about "a mobster in therapy having problems with his mother". [19] Chase got some input from his manager Lloyd Braun and decided to adapt it into a television series. [19] He signed a development deal in 1995 with production company Brillstein-Grey and wrote the original pilot script. [8] [15] [20] He drew heavily from his personal life and his experiences growing up in New Jersey, and has stated that he tried to apply his own "family dynamic to mobsters". [14] For instance, the tumultuous relationship between series protagonist Tony Soprano and his mother Livia is partially based on Chase's relationship with his own mother. [14] He was also in psychotherapy at the time and modeled the character of Jennifer Melfi after his own psychiatrist. [21]
Chase had been fascinated by organized crime and the mafia from an early age, witnessing such people growing up. He also was raised on classic gangster films such as The Public Enemy and the crime series The Untouchables . The series is partly inspired by the Richard Boiardo family, a prominent New Jersey organized crime family when Chase was growing up, and partly on New Jersey's DeCavalcante family. [22] He has mentioned American playwrights Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams as influences on the show's writing, and Italian director Federico Fellini as an important influence on the show's cinematic style. [23] [24] [25] The series was named after high school friends of his. [26] [21]
Chase and producer Brad Grey pitched The Sopranos to several networks; Fox showed interest but passed on it after Chase presented them the pilot script. [20] They eventually pitched the show to Chris Albrecht, president of HBO Original Programming, who decided to finance a pilot episode [8] [15] which was shot in 1997. [27] [28] Chase directed it himself. They finished the pilot and showed it to HBO executives, but the show was put on hold for several months. During this time, Chase, who had long experienced frustration at being unable to break out of TV and into film, [8] considered asking HBO for additional funding to shoot 45 more minutes of footage and release The Sopranos as a feature film. In December 1997, HBO decided to produce the series and ordered 12 more episodes for a 13-episode season. [8] [15] [29] The show premiered on HBO on January 10, 1999, with the pilot "The Sopranos".
Thirty episodes of The Sopranos are explicitly credited to Chase; however, as the show's creator, showrunner, and head writer, he had a major role in all the scripts, including producing and touching up each script's final draft. [30] He also directed the pilot episode and the series finale (both of which he also wrote).
Of the intentionally ambiguous final scene of the series finale, Chase said, "I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there." [31]
In 2022, Chase and Phil Abraham created a 2022 Super Bowl spot for Commonwealth / McCann with two characters from the show who appear in a 2021 New York City/New Jersey setting. [32]
Not Fade Away (2012), Chase's feature film debut, was released on December 21, 2012. It centers on the lead singer of a teenage rock 'n' roll band (played by John Magaro) in 1960s New Jersey. [33] [34] Described as "a music-driven coming-of-age story," the film reunites Chase with James Gandolfini (former star of Sopranos), who co-stars as Magaro's father. [33] Other cast members include Bella Heathcote, Christopher McDonald, Molly Price, Lisa Lampanelli, Jack Huston and Brad Garrett. Chase himself has described the film as about "a post-war, post-Depression-era parent who has given his kid every advantage that he didn't have growing up, but now can't help feeling jealous of the liberated, more adventurous destiny his son is able to enjoy." Another former Sopranos cast member, Steven Van Zandt, served as music supervisor and executive producer. [35]
Although Chase was "against [the movie] for a long time", [36] Deadline Hollywood reported in March 2018 that New Line Cinema had purchased the script for The Many Saints of Newark , a prequel to The Sopranos written by Chase and fellow screenwriter Lawrence Konner. Chase said of the storyline, which centers on the 1967 Newark riots and racial tensions between the Italian-American and African-American communities, "I was interested in Newark and life in Newark at that time... I used to go down there every Saturday night for dinner with my grandparents. But the thing that interested me most was Tony's boyhood. I was interested in exploring that." [36] Chase served as producer, and in July 2018, Alan Taylor, who previously directed episodes of the series, was hired to direct the film. [37] The film was initially scheduled to be released on September 25, 2020, [38] however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, its release date was rescheduled to March 12, 2021 [39] and later September 24, 2021 [40] before ultimately being released on October 1, 2021.
In October 2021, he and his Chase Films production company struck a deal with WarnerMedia. [41] In March 2024, it was revealed that he will be directing an untitled horror movie for New Line Cinema. [42] The screenplay will be written with Terrence Winter.
Chase has previously developed A Ribbon of Dreams, a miniseries for HBO. According to an HBO press release, the series' pilot would "begin in 1913 and follow two men, one a college-educated mechanical engineer, the other a cowboy with a violent past, who form an unlikely producing partnership and together become pioneers and then powers for a time in motion pictures." Specifically, the two men would "begin as employees of D.W. Griffith, and then cross career paths with John Ford, John Wayne, Raoul Walsh, Bette Davis, Billy Wilder and others who gave shape to Hollywood as it grew from the age of rough-hewn silent Westerns, to the golden era of talkies and the studio system, to the auteur movement, to television, and finally to the present day." In 2021, Chase revealed that HBO agreed to proceed with the production of the miniseries but with "a cheesy budget", to which Chase refused to agree. Therefore, Chase and HBO parted ways on the project and A Ribbon of Dreams fell through. [43]
After graduating from NYU in 1968, Chase moved to California and married his high school sweetheart Denise Kelly. [8] He is the father of actress Michele DeCesare, who appeared in six of The Sopranos episodes as Hunter Scangarelo. [44]
Chase once stated that he "loathed and despised" television shows, watching only The Sopranos and movies. [45] However, he said in later interviews that he watched Boardwalk Empire and Mad Men , the work of former Sopranos writers and producers Terence Winter and Matthew Weiner, respectively. He said that he previously made those negative comments in part because he had been frustrated working within the confines of 1990s network television. [46] [47]
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Creator | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1971 | The Bold Ones: The Lawyers | No | Yes | No | No | Episode: "In Defense of Ellen McKay" |
1974 | The Magician | No | Yes | No | No | 7 episodes |
1974–1975 | Kolchak: The Night Stalker | No | Yes | No | No | 8 episodes Also story consultant |
1975–1976 | Switch | No | Yes | No | No | 6 episodes Also story consultant |
1976–1979 | The Rockford Files | No | Yes | Yes | No | 20 episodes |
1980 | The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo | No | Story | No | No | Episode: "Perkins Bombs Out" |
Off the Minnesota Strip | No | Yes | Yes | No | Television film | |
1982 | Palms Precinct | No | Yes | Executive | Yes | Pilot episode |
Moonlight | No | Yes | Executive | No | Television film | |
1986 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Yes | Yes | No | No | Episode: "Enough Rope for Two" |
1988–1989 | Almost Grown | Yes | Yes | Executive | Yes | |
1991–1993 | I'll Fly Away | Yes | Yes | Executive | No | 4 episodes |
1993–1995 | Northern Exposure | No | Yes | Executive | No | Wrote 1 episode |
1996 | The Rockford Files: If the Frame Fits... | No | No | Supervising | No | Television film |
The Rockford Files: Godfather Knows Best | No | Yes | Supervising | No | ||
The Rockford Files: Friends and Foul Play | No | No | Supervising | No | ||
The Rockford Files: Punishment and Crime | Yes | Yes | Supervising | No | ||
1999–2007 | The Sopranos | Yes | Yes | Executive | Yes | Directed 2 episodes, wrote the script for 24 episodes and the story for 5 episodes Also uncredited appearances in three episodes |
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1972 | Grave of the Vampire | No | Yes | No | Based on his novel The Still Life |
2012 | Not Fade Away | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2021 | The Many Saints of Newark | No | Yes | Yes | Also cameo appearance as Ercole "Eckley" DiMeo a.k.a. "Old Man" |
TBD | Untitled Horror Movie | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1969 | The Cut Thorats | Production manager |
1972 | Winter Love | Unit manager |
2017 | BoJack Horseman | Voice role: Himself Episode: "See Mr. Peanutbutter Run" |
Primetime Emmy Awards | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
1978 | Outstanding Drama Series | The Rockford Files (season 4) | Won | [48] |
1979 | Outstanding Drama Series | The Rockford Files (season 5) | Nominated | [49] |
1980 | Outstanding Drama Series | The Rockford Files (season 6) | Nominated | [50] |
Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special | Off The Minnesota Strip | Won | ||
1992 | Outstanding Drama Series | I'll Fly Away (season 1) | Nominated | [51] |
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | I'll Fly Away (episode: "Pilot") | Nominated | ||
1993 | Outstanding Drama Series | I'll Fly Away (season 2) | Nominated | [52] |
1994 | Outstanding Drama Series | Northern Exposure (season 5) | Nominated | [53] |
1999 | Outstanding Drama Series | The Sopranos (season 1) | Nominated | [54] |
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | The Sopranos (episode: "College") | Won | ||
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | The Sopranos (episode: "Pilot") | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series | The Sopranos (episode: "Pilot") | Nominated | ||
2000 | Outstanding Drama Series | The Sopranos (season 2) | Nominated | [55] |
2001 | Outstanding Drama Series | The Sopranos (season 3) | Nominated | [56] |
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | The Sopranos (episode: "Funhouse") | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | The Sopranos (episode: "Amour Fou") | Nominated | ||
2003 | Outstanding Drama Series | The Sopranos (season 4) | Nominated | [57] |
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | The Sopranos (episode: "Whitecaps") | Won | ||
2004 | Outstanding Drama Series | The Sopranos (season 5) | Won | [58] |
2006 | Outstanding Drama Series | The Sopranos (season 6 - Part 1) | Nominated | [59] |
2007 | Outstanding Drama Series | The Sopranos (season 6 - Part 2) | Won | [60] |
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | The Sopranos (episode: "Kennedy and Heidi") | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | The Sopranos (episode: "Made in America") | Won | ||
The Sopranos is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series revolves around Tony Soprano, a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster who struggles to balance his family life with his role as the leader of a criminal organization, which he reluctantly explores during therapy sessions with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. The series also features Tony's various family members, Mafia colleagues, and rivals in prominent roles—most notably his wife Carmela and his protégé and distant cousin Christopher Moltisanti.
Anthony John Soprano is a fictional character and the protagonist of the HBO crime drama television series The Sopranos, and portrayed by James Gandolfini. Soprano is a member of the Italian-American Mafia and, especially later in the series, acts as the boss of the fictional North Jersey DiMeo crime family. Usually referred to as Tony, the character was conceived by Sopranos creator and showrunner David Chase, who was also largely responsible for the character's story arc throughout the show's six seasons. Gandolfini was ultimately cast in the role ahead of several other actors including Steven Van Zandt and Michael Rispoli. The character is loosely based on stories from and about an assortment of La Cosa Nostra figures and especially on real-life New Jersey mobsters Ruggerio "Richie the Boot" Boiardo, boss of the North Jersey Genovese crime family, and Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo, a former caporegime and de facto boss of the DeCavalcante crime family. Bobby Boriello and Mark Damiano II portrayed Tony Soprano as a child in one episode each and Danny Petrillo played the character as a teenager in three episodes. William Ludwig portrayed him as a child and James Gandolfini's son Michael Gandolfini portrayed a teenage version of the character in the 2021 prequel film The Many Saints of Newark.
Michael Imperioli is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Christopher Moltisanti in the HBO crime drama The Sopranos (1999–2007), which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2004.
Alan Taylor is an American television director, film director, screenwriter, and television producer. He is best known for his work on television series such as The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Mad Men, and Game of Thrones. He also directed films such as Palookaville, Thor: The Dark World, Terminator Genisys, and The Many Saints of Newark.
Satriale's Pork Store is a fictional establishment on the HBO series The Sopranos. During the 1970s, the pork store was taken over by Johnny Soprano, a capo in the DiMeo crime family, when Francis Satriale failed to make payments on a gambling debt. It became a regular hangout for current members of the DiMeo crime family.
"The Sopranos", also known as "Pilot", is the first episode of the HBO television drama series, The Sopranos, which premiered on January 10, 1999. It was written and directed by the series creator and executive producer David Chase.
"Pine Barrens" is an episode of the HBO series The Sopranos; it is the 11th of the show's third season and the 37th overall. The teleplay was written by Terence Winter from a story idea by Winter and Tim Van Patten. It was the first of four episodes for the series directed by Steve Buscemi and originally aired on May 6, 2001. The episode has been widely praised.
Matthew Hoffman Weiner is an American television writer, producer, and director best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series Mad Men, and as a writer and executive producer on The Sopranos.
"Funhouse" is the 26th episode of the HBO television series The Sopranos, and the season finale of the show's second season. It was co-written by series creator/executive producer David Chase and co-producer Todd A. Kessler, and directed by frequent The Sopranos director John Patterson, and originally aired in the United States on April 9, 2000, attracting about 9 million viewers.
James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Tony Soprano, the Italian-American Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series The Sopranos (1999–2007). For this role, he won three Emmy Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, and one Golden Globe Award. His role as Tony Soprano has been described as one of the greatest and most influential performances in television history.
"Soprano Home Movies" is the 78th episode of the HBO television drama series The Sopranos and the 13th episode of the sixth season. It served as the midseason premiere to the second part of Season 6, which HBO broadcast in two parts.
"The Blue Comet" is the 85th and penultimate episode of the HBO television series The Sopranos, the eighth episode of the second half of the show's sixth season, and the 20th episode of the season overall. Written by series creator and showrunner David Chase and Matthew Weiner, and directed by Alan Taylor, it originally aired in the United States on June 3, 2007, two weeks after the preceding episode.
"Made in America" is the series finale of the American crime drama television series The Sopranos. It is the 86th episode of the series overall, the ninth episode of the second part of the sixth season, and the 21st episode of the season overall. Written and directed by series creator David Chase, "Made in America" first aired on HBO in the United States on June 10, 2007.
The sixth and final season of the HBO drama series The Sopranos began on March 12, 2006, and concluded on June 10, 2007. The season consists of 21 episodes split into two parts; the first 12 episodes began airing on March 12, 2006, and ended on June 4, 2006, and the final 9 episodes began airing on April 8, 2007, with the series finale airing on June 10, 2007. The season was initially meant to consist of twenty episodes, but creator David Chase asked for one more to properly round out the story. The first part was released on DVD in region 1 on November 7, 2006, and on Blu-ray on December 19, 2006. The second part was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 23, 2007.
The third season of the American crime drama series The Sopranos began airing on HBO with a two-hour premiere on March 4, 2001, before concluding on May 20, 2001, and consisted of thirteen episodes. The third season was released on DVD in region 1 on August 27, 2002.
The Many Saints of Newark is a 2021 American crime drama film directed by Alan Taylor and written by David Chase and Lawrence Konner. A prequel to Chase's HBO crime drama series The Sopranos, it takes place during the 1960s and 1970s in Newark, New Jersey. The film follows a violent gang war from the perspectives of mobster Dickie Moltisanti and his teenage nephew, Tony Soprano, in the midst of the city's 1967 riots. It stars Alessandro Nivola as Dickie and Michael Gandolfini as Tony, the character originated by his father in the series, with Leslie Odom Jr., Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Billy Magnussen, Michela De Rossi, John Magaro, Ray Liotta, and Vera Farmiga in supporting roles. It was Liotta's final release performance before his death in 2022.
Nicholas Anthony Vallelonga is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for co-writing and producing the film Green Book, for which he received two Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. He also won two Golden Globes in the same categories, as well as the PGA Award for Best Film. He has also directed the films In the Kingdom of the Blind, the Man with One Eye Is King, Choker and Stiletto, and co-wrote the screenplay to Deadfall.
Michael Gandolfini is an American actor. Gandolfini made his major film debut in Ocean's 8 (2018) and appeared in The Many Saints of Newark (2021), in which he played the role of Tony Soprano, which was originally portrayed by his late father James Gandolfini in the television series The Sopranos.
Talking Sopranos is a 91-episode rewatch podcast hosted by Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa in 2020 and 2021, based on the long-running HBO television series The Sopranos (1999–2007). Imperioli played Christopher Moltisanti, and also wrote and produced five episodes, while Schirripa played Bobby Baccalieri in the series. The podcast is available on YouTube, the Talking Sopranos website and on the Max streaming service.
Growing up in Clifton and North Caldwell, Mr. Chase said, New Jersey seemed "very exciting and very mysterious, not dull and predictable as many New Yorkers like to believe.
[Chase] oversees everything, from writing the final polish on all scripts to supervising the editing of each episode.
Gandolfini's on board to portray the father of a teen in a rock band, set in 1960s suburbia. John Magaro will play his son. ... Chase, creator of 'The Sopranos,' signed on in 2008 to write, direct and produce the feature.
The Paramount-produced Twylight Zones is described as a drama about a New Jersey Rock'n'Roll band and the musical renaissance of the 1960s. It centers on Douglas (John Magaro), a socially awkward teen who begins to shine as lead singer in his band, The Twylight Zones. Gandolfini will play his father...