- Tom Fontana was born on September 12, 1951 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He is an Emmy Award winning writer and producer, known for Monsieur Spade (2024), Copper (2012), Borgia (2011), Oz (1997), Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) and St. Elsewhere (1982). He was twice married to Sagan Lewis, before her death in 2016.
- IMDb mini biography by: N/A
- SpousesSagan Lewis(July 25, 2015 - August 7, 2016) (her death)Sagan Lewis(December 18, 1982 - 1992) (divorced)
- Children
- RelativesPatti LuPone(Cousin)Robert LuPone(Cousin)
- His stories frequently revolve around the concepts of Redemption and Forgiveness
- Often writes Gay or Bisexual characters
- Recurring Themes of Religion and a character's Faith
- Brutal and graphic depiction of violence
- His protagonists are often men caught in situations far out of their depth
- Producer Dick Wolf is old friends with producer Tom Fontana. They often use actors from each other's TV series, usually resulting in the actors working on two shows at once. Examples are J.K. Simmons on Law & Order (1990) and Oz (1997), Christopher Meloni and Dean Winters on Oz (1997) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and Kathryn Erbe on Oz (1997) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001). Richard Belzer famously leaped from producers' show to show as "Detective John Munch".
- He usually writes early in the morning just after waking up. He has said that most of the time ideas will come to him at this time from dreams he has had during the night. Prior to going to bed he usually will briefly look over the scenes he plans to write in the morning in order to generate these dreams.
- He got his first big break in television in 1982, from producer Bruce Paltrow who hired him to write for the series St. Elsewhere (1982).
- The character played by Dennis Farina on Law & Order (1990) is named Fontana. According to creator Dick Wolf, this is no coincidence.
- Attended Buffalo State College, Class of 1973
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
