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Producer · Actor · Writer

1946-12-20 · New York City, New York, USA · Male

63 series in the catalog

Richard Anthony Wolf (born December 20, 1946) is an American television producer best known for his Law & Order franchise. Since 1990, the franchise has included six police/courtroom dramas and four international spin-offs. He is also the co-creator and executive producer of the Chicago franchise and the co-creator and executive producer of the FBI franchise.

Wolf has also written four books. The first, the non-fiction volume Law & Order: Crime Scenes, is a companion to the Law & Order television series. The Intercept, The Execution, and The Ultimatum are works of fiction in a thriller series featuring an NYPD detective named Jeremy Fisk.

Wolf has won two Emmy Awards, has been inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame, and has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Early life and education

Wolf was born in Manhattan to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother of Irish descent. His father, George Wolf, was a writer, director, and producer. As a boy, he was an altar server at the local Catholic parish.

Wolf attended Saint David's School, The Gunnery, and Phillips Academy, Andover. He subsequently attended the University of Pennsylvania (class of 1969), where he was a member of the Zeta Psi fraternity.

Advertising

Wolf worked as an advertising copywriter at Benton & Bowles creating commercials for Crest toothpaste, including the slogan "You can't beat Crest for fighting cavities." He is also credited with the campaign "I'm Cheryl, fly me" for National Airlines. Despite his success in copywriting, he was writing screenplays in the hopes of a film career. It was at this time that he briefly collaborated on a screenplay with Oliver Stone, who was a struggling screenwriter at the time.

Initial screenwriting success

He moved to Los Angeles after a few years and had three screenplays produced; one of these films, Masquerade (1988), featuring Rob Lowe and Meg Tilly, gained notable acclaim. He started his television career as a staff writer on Hill Street Blues and was nominated for his first Emmy Award for the episode "What Are Friends For?", on which he was the only writer. While working on Hill Street Blues, Wolf became close friends with Tom Fontana, then writing for the series St. Elsewhere, produced in the same building, at the same time. Wolf moved from Hill Street Blues to Miami Vice, where he was a writer and co-producer for the third and fourth seasons.

Law & Order franchise

Wolf's original series Law & Order ran from 1990 to 2010, and was revived in 2022. It has surpassed Gunsmoke as longest-running dramatic show in American television history, making it one of television's most successful franchises. It has been nominated for the most consecutive Emmy Awards of any primetime drama series. Wolf serves as creator and executive producer of the current Law & Order drama series from Wolf Entertainment and NBCUniversal Television – Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (which, as of September 5, 2024, is the longest-running scripted primetime drama, having aired 551 episodes, breaking the original Law & Order count of 456 (now 501 through the twenty-third season), and beating both the original Law & Order and Gunsmoke in number of seasons).

Wolf also was creator and executive producer for five spinoff shows in the franchise – Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Law & Order: LA, Law & Order: Organized Crime, and Conviction. Many of Wolf's series have intersected with the Law & Order franchise in some fashion, and the Law & Order series have been adapted into several foreign versions. He was also the creator and executive producer of NBC's courtroom reality series Crime & Punishment, which chronicled real-life cases prosecuted by the San Diego District Attorney's office.

Chicago franchise

Wolf developed Chicago Fire, a drama about a group of men and women working at the Chicago Fire Department. The series was picked up by NBC in May 2012, and premiered on October 10, 2012, with meek numbers in the ratings and minimal reviews in the first few weeks before spiking to NBC's scripted drama series, under Revolution. In March 2013, NBC announced intentions for a spin-off of Chicago Fire revolving around the Chicago Police Department. When that series Chicago P.D. premiered, Derek Haas, Michael W. Brandt, and Matt Olmstead became executive producers, under Wolf. Two subsequent shows, Chicago Med which premiered in 2015, and Chicago Justice whose one season began and ended in 2017, followed in Chicago P.D.'s wake.

FBI franchise

In 2018, Wolf became executive producer of the CBS drama FBI, starring Law & Order cast members Jeremy Sisto and Alana de la Garza and also Sela Ward. FBI has since had three spinoffs (FBI: Most Wanted, FBI: International and CIA), giving Wolf his third franchise.

Beginning in the 2021–2022 TV season, all three of Wolf's franchises have their own night of programming: FBI Tuesdays on CBS (original series, Most Wanted, International), Chicago Wednesdays on NBC (Med, Fire, P.D.), and Law & Order Thursdays on NBC (original series revival, SVU and Organized Crime).

Other work

In 2012, Wolf developed the unscripted show Cold Justice, a documentary drama, for TNT. He also has written three novels whose central character is NYPD Detective Jeremy Fisk: The Intercept, The Execution, and The Ultimatum. In 2024, Wolf released a documentary miniseries with Netflix called Homicide: New York.

In May 2021, NBC ordered a docuseries LA Fire and Rescue. The series followed the firefighters of the Los Angeles County Fire Department and was executive produced by Wolf. The series was cancelled by NBC after one season.

Art collecting

In December 2023, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced the promised gift of over 200 works of art from Wolf, including Old Master paintings, sculptures and drawings, as well as funds to endow two galleries with his name. Wolf reported that his appreciation for art started when he was a child visiting Met on his way home from school.

Honors

Wolf's personal honors include the Award of Excellence from the Banff Television Festival, the 2002 Creative Achievement Award from NATPE; the Anti-Defamation League's Distinguished Entertainment Industry Award, the Leadership and Inspiration Award from the Entertainment Industries Council, the Governor's Award by the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the 1997 achievement award from the Caucus for Producers, Writers, and Directors, the 1998 Television Showman of the Year Award from the Publicists Guild of America, the 2002 Tribute from the Museum of Television and Radio, and a 2003 Special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

On March 29, 2007, Wolf received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7040 Hollywood Boulevard. In 2013, Wolf was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. Wolf is also an Honorary Consul general of Monaco and is actively involved in the principality's prestigious annual Television Festival.

Political involvement

It was reported that Wolf contributed to Fred Thompson's campaign for the Republican nomination for president in 2008. The two had worked together since 2002, when Thompson joined the cast of Law & Order playing a district attorney.

In popular culture

Community, a sitcom on NBC from 2009 to 2014, had an episode which parodied Dick Wolf's Law & Order, with the title "Basic Lupine Urology" being a play on his name. Wolf is given a special thanks credit at the end of the episode of the series.

Film

Skateboard (1978) (writer)

No Man's Land (1987) (writer)

Masquerade (1988) (writer)

School Ties (1992) (writer)

Twin Towers (2003) (producer)

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007) (executive producer)

Naked Singularity (2021) (executive producer)

Animated

Family Guy (2012); Guest voice in "Ratings Guy"

Foreign

Paris enquêtes criminelles (2007–2008)

Thanks

Community ("Basic Lupine Urology", 2012)

Interview with Wolf…