David Milch facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
David Milch
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David Milch at the 64th Annual Peabody Awards in 2005
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| Born |
David Sanford Milch
March 23, 1945 Buffalo, New York, U.S.
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| Education | Yale University (BA) University of Iowa (MFA) |
| Occupation | Screenwriter, television producer |
| Spouse(s) |
Rita Stern
(m. 1982) |
| Children | 3 |
David Sanford Milch (born March 23, 1945) is an American writer and producer. He creates and produces television shows. He is well-known for co-creating the TV series NYPD Blue (1993–2005) for ABC. He also created Deadwood (2004–2006) for HBO, which later had a movie in 2019.
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Early Life and School
David Milch went to Yale University. He earned a special degree called a Bachelor of Arts with high honors. While at Yale, he won the Tinker Prize in English. He was also chosen for a special academic group called Phi Beta Kappa. He was even in the same club as future US President George W. Bush.
After Yale, Milch earned another degree, a Master of Fine Arts, from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. He also studied law for a short time at Yale Law School.
Milch's Career in TV
Before working in television, David Milch taught writing and English literature at Yale. He helped famous writers like Robert Penn Warren create textbooks. His own poems and stories were published in well-known magazines.
Starting in Television
In 1982, Milch wrote a script for the TV show Hill Street Blues. This script became an episode called "Trial by Fury." This was the start of his career in television. He worked on Hill Street Blues for five seasons. He began as an executive story editor and later became an executive producer. During this time, he won several awards, including two Writers Guild Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Creating NYPD Blue
Milch then teamed up with Steven Bochco to create NYPD Blue. He was an executive producer for seven seasons of this popular show. He won three more Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on NYPD Blue.
During his time on NYPD Blue, Milch hired David Mills as a writer. Mills had challenged some of Milch's ideas about writing, and Milch was impressed.
Milch also co-created other police dramas, like Brooklyn South in 1997. After NYPD Blue, he created a show for CBS called Big Apple.
Deadwood and Other Projects
From 2004 to 2006, Milch created, wrote, and produced Deadwood for HBO. This dramatic series was set in the Old West. It received great reviews and earned Milch two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. The show ended after three seasons. Years later, a movie called Deadwood: The Movie was made in 2019 to finish the story. Actor Ian McShane gave Milch an award in 2006 for his television writing.
In 2006, Milch started another HBO series called John from Cincinnati. This show was canceled after one season. HBO renewed its contract with Milch in 2007. He worked on a pilot for a show called Last of the Ninth, which was about the New York Police Department in the 1970s. However, this show was not picked up by the network.
In 2010, Milch announced a new HBO drama called Luck. It was about horse racing. Famous director Michael Mann directed the first episode, and Dustin Hoffman starred in it. HBO picked up the series, but it stopped production after only one season. This was because three horses died during filming.
Milch also worked on other projects that were not made. These included a movie based on a video game called Heavy Rain and a new legal drama with Steven Bochco. He also planned a series of films and TV shows based on the books of William Faulkner.
In 2013, HBO announced that Milch was developing a new series called The Money. It was about a rich New York media family. However, HBO decided not to go forward with this project in 2014.
Deadwood Movie
In 2017, Ian McShane announced that Milch had written a script for a two-hour Deadwood movie. The film, Deadwood: The Movie, began filming in October 2018 and was released in May 2019. The movie was highly praised and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
Personal Life
David Milch is Jewish. He married Rita Stern in 1982, and they have three children.
Milch has shared that he has bipolar disorder. He also developed a heart condition in the 1990s.
In 2015, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. This was shortly before he started writing the script for the Deadwood movie. As of 2019, Milch lives in a special facility that helps people with daily living. In September 2022, Milch published a book about his life called Life's Work.
Love for Horse Racing
David Milch has owned thoroughbred racehorses. With partners, he won a big race called the 1992 Breeders' Cup Juvenile with a horse named Gilded Time. Milch also owned a horse named Val Royal, who won the 2001 Breeders' Cup Mile.
Television Shows David Milch Worked On
- Hill Street Blues (1982–87)
- Bay City Blues (1983)
- Beverly Hills Buntz (1987–88) (co-creator)
- Capital News (1990) (co-creator)
- L.A. Law (1992)
- NYPD Blue (1993–2005) (co-creator)
- Murder One (1995)
- Brooklyn South (1997–98) (co-creator)
- Total Security (1997) (co-creator)
- Big Apple (2001) (creator)
- Deadwood (2004–06) (creator)
- John from Cincinnati (2007) (co-creator)
- Last of the Ninth (2009) (co-creator)
- Luck (2011–12) (creator)
- The Money (2013) (creator)
- True Detective (2019)
- Deadwood: The Movie (2019)
Awards and Honors
- 1983 Emmy Award, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (for Hill Street Blues)
- 1994 Edgar Award, Best Episode in a Television Series Teleplay (for NYPD Blue)
- 1995 Emmy Award, Best Drama Series (for NYPD Blue)
- 1995 Edgar Award, Best Episode in a Television Series Teleplay (for NYPD Blue)
- 1997 Emmy Award, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (for NYPD Blue)
- 1998 Emmy Award, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (for NYPD Blue)
- 2006 Austin Film Festival, Outstanding Television Writer Award
- 2019 TCA Award, TCA Career Achievement Award
