David Chase | |
|---|---|
 Chase at the U.S. embassy in Dublin, January 2015 | |
| Born | David Henry Chase (1945-08-22)August 22, 1945 (age 79) Mount Vernon, New York, U.S. |
| Education | New York University (BA) Stanford University (MA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Known for | Creator ofThe 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 theHBO dramaThe Sopranos, which aired for six seasons between 1999 and 2007. Chase has also produced and written for shows such asThe Rockford Files,I'll Fly Away, andNorthern Exposure. He created the original seriesAlmost Grown which aired for 10 episodes in 1988 and 1989. He has won sevenEmmy Awards. Chase's film debut came in 2012 withNot Fade Away, followed byThe Many Saints of Newark (2021), a prequel film to the TV seriesThe Sopranos.
Chase was born as an only child to Norma (née Bucco) and Enrico "Henry" Chase, both born in 1908 and hailing from Italian-American working class families.
Norma was born inEssex County, New Jersey, as one of twelve children to Marian D'Agostino and Vito Bucco, who immigrated fromAriano,Campania andFossacesia,Abruzzo respectively.[3][4][5][6]
Henry was born inProvidence, 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 21-year-old Italian immigrant who was lodging with the DeCesares since 1904. Following Evelyn's birth in 1910, Melfi and Fusco eloped toNewark, 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").[7][8][9] The DeCesare family originates fromCaserta while Chase's biological grandfather Joseph Fusco was fromRoccamonfina.[3][6][10]
Chase grew up in a small garden apartment inClifton, New Jersey,[11] and inNorth Caldwell, New Jersey.[12] His father owned Wright's Hardware inVerona, New Jersey.[11][13][14] He grew up watchingmatinée crime films and was well known as a creative storyteller.[15]
He has stated that he had many problems with his parents when he was a child.[11] 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 basedThe Sopranos characterLivia Soprano on his mother, naming her after a maternal aunt.[16][17]
Chase struggled withpanic attacks andclinical depression as a teenager, something that he dealt with into adulthood. He graduated from high school in 1964 and attendedWake Forest University inWinston-Salem, North Carolina, where his depression worsened. "I slept 18 hours a day," he stated. He described his problems as "normal, nagging, clinical depression."[11] He also worked as a drummer during this period and aspired to be a professional musician.[15] After two years, he transferred toNew 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 attendStanford University's School of Film, earning a Master of Arts degree in 1971.[18]
Chase started in Hollywood as astory editor forKolchak: The Night Stalker and then produced episodes ofThe Rockford Files andNorthern Exposure, among other series. He also worked as a writer of 19episodes while onThe Rockford Files—a show which he worked on in various capacities for more than four years.[11] He won several Emmy awards, including one for a television movie,Off the Minnesota Strip, the story of arunaway he scripted in 1980.[11] His first original created series wasAlmost Grown in 1988, withEve Gordon andTimothy Daly.[19] Although the one-hour series was well received by critics,[20] only 10 episodes aired from November 1988 to February 1989.[21]
Chase worked in relative anonymity beforeThe Sopranos debuted.[11] The story ofThe Sopranos was initially conceived as a feature film about "a mobster in therapy having problems with his mother".[22] Chase got some input from his managerLloyd Braun and decided to adapt it into a television series.[22] He signed a development deal in 1995 with production company Brillstein-Grey and wrote the original pilot script.[11][18][23] 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".[17] For instance, the tumultuous relationship between series protagonistTony Soprano and his motherLivia is partially based on Chase's relationship with his own mother.[17] He was also in psychotherapy at the time and modeled the character ofJennifer Melfi after his own psychiatrist.[24]
Chase had been fascinated by organized crime and themafia from an early age, witnessing such people growing up. He also was raised on classic gangster films such asThe Public Enemy and the crime seriesThe Untouchables. The series is partly inspired by theRichard Boiardo family, a prominent New Jersey organized crime family when Chase was growing up, and partly on New Jersey'sDeCavalcante family.[25] He has mentioned American playwrightsArthur Miller andTennessee Williams as influences on the show's writing, and Italian directorFederico Fellini as an important influence on the show's cinematic style.[26][27][28] The series was named after high school friends of his.[29][24]
Chase and producerBrad Grey pitchedThe Sopranos to several networks;Fox showed interest but passed on it after Chase presented them the pilot script.[23] They eventually pitched the show toChris Albrecht, president of HBO Original Programming, who decided to finance a pilot episode[11][18] which was shot in 1997.[30][31] 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,[11] considered asking HBO for additional funding to shoot 45 more minutes of footage and releaseThe Sopranos as a feature film. In December 1997, HBO decided to produce the series and ordered 12 more episodes for a 13-episode season.[11][18][32] The show premiered on HBO on January 10, 1999, with the pilot "The Sopranos".
Thirty episodes ofThe Sopranos areexplicitly credited to Chase; however, as the show's creator,showrunner, andhead writer, he had a major role in all the scripts, including producing and touching up each script's final draft.[33] He also directed the pilot episode and theseries finale (both of which he also wrote).
Of the intentionally ambiguous final scene of the series finale that aired on June 10, 2007, Chase said, "I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there."[34]
In 2022, Chase andPhil 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.[35]
In September 2024, HBO released a two-part documentary calledWise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos.[36]
Not Fade Away (2012), Chase's feature film debut, was released on December 21, 2012. It centers on the lead singer of a teenagerock 'n' roll band (played byJohn Magaro) in 1960s New Jersey.[37][38] Described as "a music-driven coming-of-age story," the film reunites Chase with James Gandolfini (former star ofSopranos), who co-stars as Magaro's father.[37] Other cast members includeBella Heathcote,Christopher McDonald,Molly Price,Lisa Lampanelli,Jack Huston andBrad 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 formerSopranos cast member,Steven Van Zandt, served as music supervisor and executive producer.[39]
Although Chase was "against [the movie] for a long time",[40]Deadline Hollywood reported in March 2018 thatNew Line Cinema had purchased the script forThe Many Saints of Newark, a prequel toThe Sopranos written by Chase and fellow screenwriterLawrence Konner. Chase said of the storyline, which centers on the1967 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."[40] Chase served as producer, and in July 2018,Alan Taylor, who previously directed episodes of the series, was hired to direct the film.[41] The film was initially scheduled to be released on September 25, 2020,[42] however, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United States, its release date was rescheduled to March 12, 2021[43] and later September 24, 2021[44] before ultimately being released on October 1, 2021.
In October 2021, he and his Chase Films production company struck a deal with WarnerMedia.[45] In March 2024, it was revealed that he will be directing an untitled horror movie for New Line Cinema.[46] The screenplay will be written with Terrence Winter.
Chase has previously developedA Ribbon of Dreams, aminiseries for HBO. According to an HBOpress 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 ofD.W. Griffith, and then cross career paths withJohn Ford,John Wayne,Raoul Walsh,Bette Davis,Billy Wilder and others who gave shape to Hollywood as it grew from the age of rough-hewnsilentWesterns, 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 andA Ribbon of Dreams fell through.[47]
After graduating from NYU in 1968, Chase moved to California and married his high school sweetheart Denise Kelly.[11] He is the father of actress Michele DeCesare, who appeared in six ofThe Sopranos episodes asHunter Scangarelo.[48]
Chase once stated that he "loathed and despised" television shows, watching onlyThe Sopranos and movies.[49] However, he said in later interviews that he watchedBoardwalk Empire andMad Men, the work of formerSopranos 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.[50][51]
In 2023, Chase was inducted into theNew Jersey Hall of Fame.[52]
| 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 novelThe 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" |
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-producedTwylight 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...
