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In 1982, David Milch, a lecturer in English literature at Yale University and neophyte screenwriter, wrote a script for HILL STREET BLUES. The episode, "Trial By Fury," premiered HILL STREET'S third season and won the Emmy, the Writers Guild Award, and the Humanitas Prize for that season.
Milch's academic years were distinguished by achievements and honors, in some ways foreshadowing his future success in television. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Yale, where he won the Tinker Prize for highest achievement in English. He then earned an MFA, with distinction, from the Writer's Workshop at Iowa University. During his nine-year teaching career at Yale, he assisted Robert Penn Warren and Cleanth Brooks in the preparation of several college textbooks on literature. In addition, Milch's poetry and fiction have been published in various journals, including The Atlantic Monthly and Southern Review.
The success of his first script, however, marked the end of his academic career and the beginning of a career in dramatic television. He spent five seasons with HILL STREET BLUES, first as Executive Story Editor and subsequently as Executive Producer. During that time, Milch earned two more Writers Guild Awards, a second Humanitas prize, and another Emmy.
Milch's career gained momentum throughout the 1980's with the addition of two other series to his credits. In 1987, he created and Executive Produced the HILL STREET BLUES spin-off BEVERLY HILLS BUNTZ, which featured NYPD BLUE co-star Dennis Franz, and, in 1989, Milch served as Executive Producer of the ABC series CAPITAL NEWS, starring Lloyd Bridges.
In 1992, Milch co-created the history-making police drama NYPD BLUE. The highly-rated series set a record by garnering 26 Emmy Nominations its premier season, winning the award for Best Drama Series in 1994-1995. Milch took home Emmys for Best Writing in a Drama for the 1996-1997 and 1997-1998 seasons. The first season of NYPD BLUE also earned Milch a Humanitas Prize and an Edgar Award for his screenwriting.
While still at the helm of NYPD BLUE, Milch created another police drama, BROOKLYN SOUTH, co-authored, along with NYPD Blue producer Bill Clark, TRUE BLUE: The Real Stories Behind NYPD Blue, and served as creative consultant for Steven Bochco's MURDER ONE and TOTAL SECURITY.
Since forming Redboard Productions, Milch co-created BIG APPLE, a one-hour drama set in New York City's FBI field office and DEADWOOD for HBO. The hit series based on actual events in Deadwood, South Dakota, during the 1870's, has received 6 Emmy Awards, a Peabody and a Best Actor Golden Globe for actor Ian McShane. He is currently in production on the new drama JOHN FROM CINCINNATI, also for HBO, which revolves around a family of surfers living in Imperial Beach.
Milch was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1945. His father was a prominent surgeon and his mother was head of the Board of Education. His brother, Dr. Robert Milch, also a surgeon, still resides in their hometown and is Medical Director of Hospice Buffalo.
Milch is married to Emmy-award winning documentarian, Rita Stern. They have two daughters, Elizabeth and Olivia, and a son, Benjamin.
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