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Tom Fontana | |
|---|---|
 Fontana at theMontclair Film Festival in 2014 | |
| Born | (1951-09-12)September 12, 1951 (age 74) Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Buffalo State College |
| Occupations | Screenwriter, playwright, producer |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
Tom Fontana (born September 12, 1951) is an American screenwriter, writer, and television producer. Fontana worked onNBC'sHomicide: Life on the Street and createdHBO'sOz.[1]
Fontana was born on the west side ofBuffalo, New York, and is the fourth of five children in an Italian-American family;[2] he is a cousin of actressPatti LuPone. He attendedCathedral School,Canisius High School, andBuffalo State College. He worked at theStudio Arena Theater in Buffalo in various capacities before moving to New York City in 1973.[3]
Having started out as a playwright, Fontana was hired byBruce Paltrow as a writer forSt. Elsewhere. Fontana has been the creator/showrunner forOz,Copper,The Jury,The Beat,The Bedford Diaries,The Philanthropist,Monsieur Spade and he was also the showrunner onHomicide: Life on the Street andCity on a Hill.
Fontana wrote the HBO filmStrip Search, directed bySidney Lumet, and contributed two pieces to the September 11 special,America: A Tribute to Heroes. He was the executive producer ofAmerican Tragedy for CBS,Shot in the Heart forHBO Films, the independent filmJean, and the documentaryThe Press Secretary forPBS. Fontana also created the historical drama TV seriesBorgia for the French premium-pay channelCanal+, produced byAtlantique Productions andEOS Entertainment. The series recounts the Borgia family's rise to power and subsequent domination of the Vatican during the Renaissance. Fontana also co-createdCopper, an 1860s police procedural set in the turbulentFive Points neighborhood of New York.
Fontana has received threeEmmy Awards, fourPeabody Awards, three Writers' Guild Awards, four Television Critics Association Awards, the Cable Ace Award, theHumanitas Prize, anEdgar Award, and the first prize at theCinéma Tout Ecran Festival in Switzerland. In 2003, Fontana was the recipient of theAustin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award.
Fontana has written articles for such periodicals asThe New York Times,TV Guide, andEsquire, and has taught at Columbia, Syracuse, Rutgers, and the State University College at Buffalo, his alma mater, from which he received the Distinguished Alumni Award and an honorary Doctorate of Letters.
Fontana has had numerous plays produced in New York City, where he lives, and at San Francisco'sAmerican Conservatory Theater, the CincinnatiPlayhouse in the Park, the Buffalo Studio Arena Theatre,Williamstown Theatre Festival, andMcCarter Theatre Company.
Fontana wrote, directed and produced the podcastSugarland forAudible.
Fontana was married to actressSagan Lewis for 12 years until their divorce in 1993.[1] Sagan and Fontana remarried on July 10, 2015, and remained together until her death on August 7, 2016.[1][4]
Fontana has a tattoo of theOz logo on his upper right arm, which he is shown receiving in the opening credits of the series.[5]
Fontana does not own or use a computer, and writes all of his scripts longhand on a yellow legal pad.[6]
He is a member of theDramatists Guild, theProducers Guild of America, and theWriters Guild of America, East, from which he received theEvelyn F. Burkey Award for lifetime achievement. Fontana served as vice president of the Writers Guild of America, East from 2005 to 2007. He is president emeritus of the WGAE Foundation, commonly known as the Writers Guild Initiative, and serves on the boards of the Acting Company, theWilliamstown Theatre Festival, DEAL, the New York City Police Museum, andStockings with Care, among others.
DetectiveJoe Fontana,Dennis Farina's character onLaw & Order, was named for Tom Fontana, who became close friends withLaw & Order creatorDick Wolf while working as writers in the same building, at the same time, on the seriesSt. Elsewhere (Fontana) andHill Street Blues (Wolf).[7]
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writer | Producer | |||
| 1985 | The Fourth Wise Man | Yes | Yes | |
| 1993 | New Year | Yes | Yes | |
| 1996 | The Prosecutors | Yes | Yes | |
| 1997 | Firehouse | Yes | Yes | |
| 2000 | Homicide: The Movie | Yes | Yes | |
| 2004 | Judas | Yes | Yes | |
| 2004 | Strip Search | Yes | Yes | |
| Year[8] | Title | Network | Credited as | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creator | Writer | Producer | ||||
| 1982-1988 | St. Elsewhere | NBC | No | Yes | Yes | |
| 1988-1989 | Tattingers | NBC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-created withBruce Paltrow andJohn Masius |
| 1992 | Home Fires | NBC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-created alongsideBruce Paltrow and John Tinker |
| 1993-1999 | Homicide: Life on the Street | NBC | No | Yes | Yes | Showrunner |
| 1997-2003 | Oz | HBO | Yes | Yes | Yes | Creator/Showrunner |
| 2000 | The Beat | UPN | Yes | Yes | Yes | Creator/Showrunner |
| 2004 | The Jury | Fox | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-created alongsideBarry Levinson andJames Yoshimura/Showrunner |
| 2009 | The Philanthropist | NBC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-created alongside Charlie Corbin and Jim Juvonen /Showrunner |
| 2012-2013 | Copper | BBC America | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-created with Will Rokos/Showrunner |
| 2011-2014 | Borgia | Canal+ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Creator/Showrunner |
| 2019-2022 | City on a Hill | Showtime | No | No | Yes | Showrunner |
| 2024 | Monsieur Spade[9] | AMC & Canal+ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-creator/Co-showrunner withScott Frank |
