Richard Anthony Wolf (born December 20, 1946), usually billed as simply Dick Wolf, is an American Emmy Award-winning producer, specializing in crime dramas such as Miami Vice and the Law & Order franchise.

Biography

Early life

Wolf was born in New York City, the son of Marie G. (née Gaffney), a homemaker, and George Wolf, an advertising executive.Dick Wolf Biography (1946-) Wolf was enrolled at Phillips Academy, where he was a classmate of George W. Bush, and graduated from The Gunnery. He enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1969. He was a member of Penn's chapter of the Zeta Psi fraternity.

Career

Wolf worked as an advertising copywriter at Benton & Bowles creating commercials for Crest toothpaste, all the while 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 also a struggling screenwriter at the time. He moved to Los Angeles after a few years and had three screenplays produced; one of these films, Masquerade starring Rob Lowe and Meg Tilly, was well received. He started his television career as a staff writer on Hill Street Blues and was nominated for his first Emmy for an episode on which he was the only writer. He moved from there to Miami Vice where he was a supervising producer.