I would like to write to Dick Wolf, the creator of Law & Order. May I have his address? What can you tell us about him?
—Thelma D., Virginia
A New York City native, Wolf got his start as an advertising copywriter, and eventually turned his talents to writing screenplays. He made his first foray into television police drama as a writer for Hill Street Blues, and went on to work on Miami Vice as executive producer. He also wrote the prep school-based movie School Ties. (Wolf has his own prep school background, attending Andover at the same time as President George W. Bush.) But it was Law & Order and its multiple spin-offs that have made him a household name. “When I was growing up,” Wolf told The Boston Phoenix a few years back, “there were cop shows like The Defenders and Naked City, and the great thing about them was how real they were. Law & Order is a direct descendent of those shows, and it’s the most ambitious show I’ve worked on. But beyond that, it has been an instrument for telling stories in a totally different way than I’ve ever been able to tell them before.” You can write to Wolf at Universal Studios, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA, 91608.
