Early life and education

Chase was born into a working class Italian-American family in Mount Vernon, New York. An only child, Chase grew up in a small garden apartment in Clifton, New Jersey and in North Caldwell. Chase has stated that as a child he had many problems with his parents, whom he feels were overbearing. He grew up watching matinée crime films and was well known as a creative storyteller during his childhood. Chase claims his father was an angry man who belittled him constantly as a child and his mother was a "passive-aggressive drama queen" and a "nervous woman who dominated any situation she was in by being so needy and always on the verge of hysteria. You walked on eggshells." One of his characters on the HBO original series The Sopranos, Livia Soprano, is based on his mother. Chase struggled with panic attacks and severe depression as a teenager, something he still deals with today. He graduated from high school in 1964 and attended Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where his depression worsened. "I slept 18 hours a day," Chase later stated. He described his problems as "what's come to be known as normal, nagging, clinical depression. It was awful." He also worked as a drummer during this period, and held aspirations of being a professional musician. After two years, he transferred to New York University, where he chose to pursue a career in film, a decision that was not well received by his parents. He went on to attend Stanford University's School of Film.

Career

Before creating and developing The Sopranos, Chase started in Hollywood as a story editor for Kolchak: The Night Stalker and then produced episodes of The Rockford Files and Northern Exposure, among other series. He also worked as a writer of nineteen episodes while on The Rockford Files—a show which he worked on in various capacities for more than four years. He won several Emmy awards, including one for a television movie, Off the Minnesota Strip, the story of a runaway he scripted in 1980. After The Rockford Files run ended the same year, Chase worked in numerous television jobs until he wound up in charge of Northern Exposure in 1993. Chase worked in relative anonymity before The Sopranos debuted. Inspired as a youth by the film The Public Enemy, Chase created the critically and commercially successful show by drawing heavily on his own personal life; the character of Livia Soprano is modelled after his own mother. In a recent interview Chase stated that he experienced frustration for a long period with being unable to break out of the TV genre and into film over this time. In 2000, David Chase was the recipient of the Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award. In 2005, Chase received a Special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his entire body of work. He participated as arranger of On the Record musical.

His first original created series was Almost Grown in 1988, with Eve Gordon and Timothy Daly. Although the one-hour series was well received by critics, only 10 episodes aired from November 1988 to February 1989.

The Sopranos

Thirty episodes of The Sopranos are explicitly credited to Chase; however, as the show's creator, showrunner, and head writer, he had a major role in all the scripts, including producing and touching up each script's final draft. He also directed the pilot episode and the series finale (both of which he also wrote). Of the controversial final scene of the series finale, Chase said, "I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there."

The Sopranos credits

Writer

• "The Sopranos" (episode 1.01)
• "46 Long" (episode 1.02)
• "College" (episode 1.05) (with Jim Manos, Jr.)
• "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti" (episode 1.08) (with Frank Renzulli)
• "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano" (episode 1.13)
• "Commendatori" (episode 2.04)
• "Funhouse" (episode 2.13) (with Todd A. Kessler)
• "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" (episode 3.01)
• "Proshai, Livushka" (episode 3.02)
• "University" (episode 3.06) (story credit)
• "Amour Fou" (episode 3.12) (story credit)
• "Army of One" (episode 3.13) (with Lawrence Konner)
• "For All Debts Public and Private" (episode 4.01)
• "No Show" (episode 4.02) (with Terence Winter)
• "Watching Too Much Television" (episode 4.07) (story credit)
• "Mergers and Acquisitions" (episode 4.08) (story credit)
• "The Strong, Silent Type" (episode 4.10) (story credit)
• "Calling All Cars" (episode 4.11) (with Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess and David Flebotte)
• "Whitecaps" (episode 4.13) (with Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess)
• "Two Tonys" (episode 5.01) (with Terence Winter)
• "The Test Dream" (episode 5.11) (with Matthew Weiner)
• "All Due Respect" (episode 5.13) (with Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess)
• "Join the Club" (episode 6.02)
• "Live Free or Die" (episode 6.06) (with Robin Green & Mitchell Burgess and Terence Winter)
• "Cold Stones" (episode 6.11) (with Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider)
• "Kaisha" (episode 6.12) (with Matthew Weiner and Terence Winter)
• "Soprano Home Movies" (episode 6.13) (with Diane Frolov & Andrew Schneider and Matthew Weiner)
• "Kennedy and Heidi" (episode 6.18) (with Matthew Weiner)
• "The Blue Comet" (episode 6.20) (with Matthew Weiner)
• "Made in America" (episode 6.21)

Director

• "The Sopranos" (episode 1.01)
• "Made in America" (episode 6.21)

Actor

Chase appeared as a man sitting at an outdoor cafe in Naples, Italy smoking a cigarette in the season two episode "Commendatori". He also appeared as an airline passenger en route to Italy in season six's "Luxury Lounge". His voice was also used over the phone in the episode "The Test Dream".

Not Fade Away

Not Fade Away (2012) — Chase's feature film debut - was released on December 21, 2012. It centers on the lead singer of a teenage rock 'n' roll band (played by John Magaro) in 1960s New Jersey. Described as "a music-driven coming-of-age story," the film reunites Chase with James Gandolfini (former star of Sopranos), who co-stars as Magaro's father. Other cast members include Bella Heathcote, Christopher McDonald, Molly Price, Lisa Lampanelli, Jack Huston and Brad Garrett. Chase himself has described the film as about "a post-war, post-Depression-era parent who has given his kid every advantage that he didn't have growing up, but now can't help feeling jealous of the liberated, more adventurous destiny his son is able to enjoy." Another former Sopranos cast member, Steven Van Zandt, served as music supervisor and executive producer.

Upcoming projects

A Ribbon of Dreams

David Chase is currently developing A Ribbon of Dreams, a mini-series for HBO. According to an HBO press release, the series' pilot will "begin in 1913 and follow two men, one a college-educated mechanical engineer, the other a cowboy with a violent past, who form an unlikely producing partnership and together become pioneers and then powers for a time in motion pictures." Specifically, the two men will "begin as employees of D.W. Griffith, and then cross career paths with John Ford, John Wayne, Raoul Walsh, Bette Davis, Billy Wilder and others who gave shape to Hollywood as it grew from the age of rough-hewn silent Westerns, to the golden era of talkies and the studio system, to the auteur movement, to television, and finally to the present day." As of 2015, Chase is still developing the miniseries for HBO.

Personal life

After graduating from NYU in 1968 Chase moved to California and married his high school sweetheart Denise Kelly. He is the father of actress Michele DeCesare who appeared in six Sopranos episodes as Hunter Scangarelo. While working in the industry Chase stated he "loathed and despised" television shows, watching only The Sopranos and movies, such as Mildred Pierce, an example of films which he stated "in two hours, two hours and a half, told us everything we needed to know about every character in it". However, in recent interviews, he has taken back this comment, saying he watches former Sopranos writers and producers Terence Winter and Matthew Weiner's respective series Boardwalk Empire and Mad Men. He said that he made those comments in part because he had been working within the confines of 1990's network television.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1971	The Bold Ones: The Lawyers		Yes		Episode: "In Defense of Ellen McKay"
1974	The Magician		Yes		7 episodes
1974-1975	Kolchak: The Night Stalker		Yes		8 episodes
1975-1976	Switch		Yes		6 episodes
1976-1980	The Rockford Files		Yes	Yes	Wrote 20 episodes
1980	The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo		Story		Episode: "Perkins Bombs Out"
1980	Off the Minnesota Strip		Yes	Yes	Television film
1982	Moonlight		Yes	Executive	Television film
1986	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Yes	Yes		Episode: "Enough Rope for Two"
1988-1989	Almost Grown	Yes		Executive	Also co-creator
1991-1992	I'll Fly Away	Yes	Yes	Executive
1994	Northern Exposure		Story	Executive
1996	The Rockford Files: If the Frame Fits...			Supervising	Television film
1996	The Rockford Files: Godfather Knows Best		Yes	Supervising	Television film
1996	The Rockford Files: Friends and Foul Play			Supervising	Television film
1996	The Rockford Files: Punishment and Crime	Yes	Yes	Supervising	Television film
1999-2007	The Sopranos	Yes	Yes	Executive	Also creator

Film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1972	Grave of the Vampire		Yes		Based on his novel The Still Life
2012	Not Fade Away	Yes	Yes	Yes

Awards and recognition

List of awards and recognitions

• 1978 Emmy Award Winner, Outstanding Drama Series (The Rockford Files)
• 1979 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Drama Series (The Rockford Files)
• 1980 Golden Globe Award Nomination, Best Television Series - Drama (The Rockford Files)
• 1980 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Drama Series (The Rockford Files)
• 1980 Emmy Award Winner, Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special (Off The Minnesota Strip)
• 1992 Golden Globe Award Nomination, Best Television Series - Drama (I'll Fly Away)
• 1992 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Drama Series (I'll Fly Away)
• 1992 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Writing for A Drama Series (I'll Fly Away - "Pilot")
• 1993 Golden Globe Award Nomination, Best Television Series - Drama (I'll Fly Away)
• 1993 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Drama Series (I'll Fly Away)
• 1994 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Drama Series (Northern Exposure)
• 1999 Golden Globe Award Winner, Best Television Series - Drama (The Sopranos)
• 1999 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Drama Series (The Sopranos)
• 1999 Emmy Award Winner, Outstanding Writing for A Drama Series (The Sopranos - "College")
• 1999 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Writing for A Drama Series (The Sopranos - "Pilot")
• 1999 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Directing for A Drama Series (The Sopranos - "Pilot")
• 2000 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Drama Series (The Sopranos)
• 2001 Golden Globe Award Nomination, Best Television Series - Drama (The Sopranos)
• 2001 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Writing for A Drama Series (The Sopranos - "Funhouse")
• 2001 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Drama Series (The Sopranos)
• 2001 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Writing for A Drama Series (The Sopranos - "Amour Fou")
• 2002 Golden Globe Award Nomination, Best Television Series - Drama (The Sopranos)
• 2003 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Drama Series (The Sopranos)
• 2003 Emmy Award Winner, Outstanding Writing for A Drama Series (The Sopranos - "Whitecaps")
• 2004 Golden Globe Award Nomination, Best Television Series - Drama (The Sopranos)
• 2004 Emmy Award Winner, Outstanding Drama Series (The Sopranos)
• 2006 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Drama Series (The Sopranos)
• 2007 Emmy Award Winner, Outstanding Drama Series (The Sopranos)
• 2007 Emmy Award Nomination, Outstanding Writing for A Drama Series (The Sopranos - "Kennedy and Heidi")
• 2007 Emmy Award Winner, Outstanding Writing for A Drama Series (The Sopranos - "Made in America")
• 2008 Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement

[ Source: Wikipedia ]