David Milch
David Milch at the64th Annual Peabody Awards in 2005
Born	David Sanford Milch (1945-03-23)March 23, 1945 (age 80) Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Education	Yale University (BA) University of Iowa (MFA)
Occupation(s)	Screenwriter, television producer
Spouse	Rita Stern ​ (m. 1982)​
Children	3

David Sanford Milch (born March 23, 1945) is an American writer and producer of television series. He has created several television shows, includingABC'sNYPD Blue (1993–2005), co-created withSteven Bochco, andHBO'sDeadwood (2004–2006,2019).^[1]

Milch graduated with aB.A.summa cum laude fromYale University, where he won the Tinker Prize in English, was elected toPhi Beta Kappa, and was a member of theDelta Kappa Epsilon chapter,^[2][3] along with future US PresidentGeorge W. Bush. Milch earned aMaster of Fine Arts with distinction from theIowa Writers' Workshop at theUniversity of Iowa.^[4]

To avoid the draft during theVietnam War, Milch enrolled inYale Law School, but he was expelled for allegedly shooting out a police car siren with a shotgun.^[5]

Milch worked as a writing teacher and lecturer in English literature at Yale. During his teaching career, he assistedRobert Penn Warren andCleanth Brooks in the writing of several college textbooks on literature. Milch's poetry and fiction have been published inThe Atlantic Monthly and theSouthern Review.^[6]

In 1982, Milch wrote a script forHill Street Blues, which became the episode "Trial by Fury". This began his career in television. He worked five seasons onHill Street Blues as executive story editor and then as executive producer. Milch earned twoWriters Guild Awards, aHumanitas prize, and aPrimetime Emmy Award while working on that show.^[7]

Milch createdNYPD Blue withSteven Bochco and served as executive producer of that series for seven seasons. He received three Primetime Emmy Awards during his time with the series.^[8] In a 1994 seminar on "Human Values in Entertainment Writing: The Challenges and the Pitfalls," Milch described his affinity for the show's characterDetective Andy Sipowicz by noting, "I'm racist."^[9] He also recalled a writing workshop he led some years earlier, noting that "None of the Black writing was any good," adding: "Jews tend to do very well in this business . . . because Jews experience a typical emotional doubleness in relation to the dominant culture, which is that they are both inside and outside it . . . A Black person has to experience more anger and self-division in order to achieve the kind of emotional neutrality that you need to write about the culture."^[9] Milch explained in a later statement that "The seminar I gave was an attempt to describe the process of writing and not a statement of political or social values."^[9] In response to Milch's comments,David Mills (an American journalist, writer and TV producer) wrote a letter in which he challenged Milch's assumptions concerning Black writers. As a result, Milch hired Mills as a writer forNYPD Blue.^[10]

Milch co-created the patrol police dramaBrooklyn South with Bochco,Bill Clark, andWilliam M. Finkelstein in 1997 while still working onNYPD Blue. AfterNYPD Blue, Milch created aCBS series calledBig Apple.^[11]

From 2004 to 2006, Milch producedDeadwood, a dramatic series forHBO. Milch served as creator, writer, and executive producer. The series received critical acclaim and garnered Milch two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for writing and producing. The series ended in 2006 after three seasons. There were plans for two feature-length movies to conclude the series, ultimately resulting in a single film released by HBO in 2019. ActorIan McShane presented David Milch with the 2006 Outstanding Television Writer Award at theAustin Film Festival.^[12]

Milch began production in 2006 onJohn from Cincinnati, another dramatic series for HBO. The series was canceled after its first season. Initial ratings had been lower than expected but increased steadily. Ratings for the final episode were more than 3 million.^[13] In October 2007, HBO renewed its contract with Milch. A pilot was commissioned forLast of the Ninth, "a drama set in theNew York Police Department during the 1970s, when theKnapp Commission was formed to ferret out corruption in the force." Collaborating with Milch onLast of the Ninth was formerNYPD Blue writer and friendBill Clark.^[14] In December 2008,The Hollywood Reporter stated thatLast of the Ninth would not be picked up by the network.^[15]

In January 2010, Milch announced that he was developing a new drama for HBO entitledLuck, based around the culture ofhorse racing.Michael Mann directed the pilot^[16] andDustin Hoffman was cast in the lead role.^[17] HBO picked up the series on July 14, 2010.^[18] The series ceased production after three horse deaths on set, having aired one season. Other unrealized projects of Milch's during the early 2010s included a film adaptation ofQuantic Dream's 2010 video gameHeavy Rain,^[19] a reunion withNYPD Blue collaboratorSteven Bochco on anNBC legal drama,^[20] and a series of films and television series for HBO based on the literary works ofWilliam Faulkner.^[21][22] In July 2013 HBO announced^[23] at the Television Critics Association Press Tour that Milch was developing a new series for the cable network tentatively titledThe Money. The show would depict a dynastic New York media family. Irish actorBrendan Gleeson was cast in the lead role as a family patriarch and media mogul.^[24] It was announced on March 4, 2014, that HBO had passed on the project.^[25]

On April 20, 2017,Ian McShane announced that Milch had submitted a script for a two-hourDeadwood movie to HBO. "[A] two-hour movie script has been delivered to HBO. If they don't deliver [a finished product], blame them." McShane said he had spoken to Milch about the script and hoped to soon discuss beginning the film. He also said of the original cast returning that "we'd all love to do it ... It would be nice to see all of the old gang again."^[26]Deadwood: The Movie began production in October 2018^[27] and premiered in May 2019. The film received critical acclaim and a nomination for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.

Milch is Jewish.^[28] He has been married to Rita Stern since 1982. They have three children.^{[citation needed]}

Milch has stated he hasbipolar disorder.^[29][30] He developed a heart condition in the 1990s.^[29] During the filming ofNYPD Blue, he suffered a heart attack while arguing with actorDavid Caruso over the script.^[30]

In the 2000s, he became addicted to gambling and lost much of his fortune.^[31]

Milch was diagnosed withAlzheimer's disease in 2015 shortly before beginning work on the script for theDeadwood film.^[32] As of 2019, he lives in an assisted-living facility.^[33] On September 13, 2022, Milch published a memoir titledLife's Work.^[34][35]

Milch has been an owner ofthoroughbredracehorses. As a co-owner with Mark and Jack Silverman, he won the 1992Breeders' Cup Juvenile with the coltGilded Time.^[36] Milch owned outrightVal Royal who captured the 2001Breeders' Cup Mile.^{[citation needed]}

• Hill Street Blues (1982–87)
• Bay City Blues (1983)
• Beverly Hills Buntz (1987–88) (co-creator, withJeffrey Lewis)
• Capital News (1990) (co-creator, with Christian Williams)
• L.A. Law (1992)
• NYPD Blue (1993–2005) (co-creator, withSteven Bochco)
• Murder One (1995)
• Brooklyn South (1997–98) (co-creator, withSteven Bochco)
• Total Security (1997) (co-creator, withSteven Bochco,Charles H. Eglee, andTheresa Rebeck)
• Big Apple (2001) (creator)
• Deadwood (2004–06) (creator)
• John from Cincinnati (2007) (co-creator, withKem Nunn)
• Last of the Ninth (2009) (co-creator, withBill Clark)
• Luck (2011–12) (creator)
• The Money (2013) (creator)
• True Detective (2019)
• Deadwood: The Movie (2019)

• Milch, David andClark, Bill.True Blue: The Real Stories Behind NYPD Blue. New York: William Morrow & Co, 1995.ISBN 978-0688140816
• Milch, David.Deadwood: Stories of the Black Hills. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2006.ISBN 978-1596912397
• Milch, David.Life's Work: A Memoir. New York: Random House, 2022.ISBN 978-0525510741^[37]

• An Evening with Acclaimed Writer/Producer David Milch.SAG Foundation. July 13, 2011.^{[permanent dead link]} (Video: 80-minutes.)
• Davies, Dave & Milch, David (January 25, 2012)."David Milch: Trying His 'Luck' With Horse Racing".Fresh Air.
• Havrilesky, Heather (March 5, 2005)."The man behind 'Deadwood'".Salon.com. Archived fromthe original on August 23, 2006.
• Singer, Mark (February 14, 2005)."The Misfit".The New Yorker. Profile of Milch.
• Television's Great Writer(David Milch at MIT). Cambridge, MA. April 20, 2006. Archived fromthe original on November 2, 2006. RetrievedOctober 17, 2006.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (Video: 1:23:15.)
• Singer, Mark (May 27, 2019)."Hello, darkness: the creator of several hit shows has dementia. And some thoughts about that". Profiles.The New Yorker. Vol. 95, no. 14. pp. 24–30.^[a]

• David Milch atIMDb
• David Milch atThe Interviews: An Oral History of Television
• "Bio: David S. Milch".National Thoroughbred Racing Association. Archived fromthe original on September 29, 2007.
• "Collection of David Milch lectures in audio and video formats".The Idea of the Writer.
• David Milch Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

• 1945 births
• Living people
• 21st-century American Jews
• American male television writers
• American racehorse owners and breeders
• Edgar Award winners
• Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni
• Jews from New York (state)
• Jewish American television writers
• American television writers
• People with Alzheimer's disease
• People with bipolar disorder
• Primetime Emmy Award winners
• Screenwriters from New York (state)
• American showrunners
• Television producers from New York (state)
• American television show creators
• Writers from Buffalo, New York
• Writers Guild of America Award winners
• Yale University alumni

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