Tom Fontana is a
television producer who usually works with Barry Levinson. Fontana's most notable works have been
St. Elsewhere, as a writer, and as a producer
Oz and the beloved
Homicide: Life on the Street.
Fontana received a degree from Buffalo State College in Theater Arts, and tried being a playwright. As luck would have it, Blythe Danner and her children Jake and Gwyneth Paltrow went to see one of his shows that was playing for a summer run in Massachusetts. They all enjoyed it so much that they told their father/husband, Bruce Paltrow to go see it. He never did. Feeling guilty because Gwyneth told Fontana he would come and see the show, Paltrow asked Fontana if he would like to write a script for the new show he was developing - St. Elsewhere. He wrote the episode and didn't leave until the show was over.
After St. Elsewhere finished, Fontana didn't expect to continue working in tv. However, Barry Levinson asked him if he wanted to work on a new cop show he was developing. Fontana was hesitant because Hill Street Blues had just finished and he didn't think another cop show could hold up to that standard. But Levinson eventually won him over and a partnership was born.
Fontana's Works as a Producer (from the IMDB):
1.Path to War, The (2000) (TV)
2."American Tragedy" (2000) (mini) TV Series
3."Beat, The" (2000) TV Series (executive)
4.Homicide: The Movie (2000) (TV) (executive)
5.Firehouse (1997) (executive)
6."Oz" (1997) TV Series (executive)
7.Prosecutors, The (1996) (TV) (executive)
8."Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993) TV Series (executive)
Thank you to
fugitive247 for pointing out that I did not cite my sources. Some of the information came from an interview Fontana gave to
David Bianculli during the
NPR program "
Fresh Air" on Wednesday
July 28, 1999.