Richard Anthony Wolf (born December 20, 1946) is an American film and television producer, best known for his Law & Order franchise. Since 1990, the franchise has included six police/courtroom dramas and four international spinoffs. He is also creator and executive producer of the Chicago franchise, which since 2012 has included four Chicago-based dramas, and the creator and executive producer of the FBI franchise, which since 2018 has also become a franchise after spinning off two additional series. Wolf has also written four books. The first, the non-fiction volume Law & Order: Crime Scenes, is a companion to the Law & Order television series. The Intercept, The Execution, and The Ultimatum, all of which are works of fiction, are volumes in a thriller series upon whose writings Wolf collaborates with the NYPD's detective Jeremy Fisk. Wolf has won numerous awards, including an Emmy Award, being inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame, and receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Early life and education Wolf was raised in Manhattan to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother of Irish descent. He was an altar boy. Wolf attended Saint David's School, The Gunnery, and Phillips Academy. He subsequently attended the University of Pennsylvania (class of 1969), where he was a member of the Zeta Psi fraternity. Career Advertising Wolf worked as an advertising copywriter at Benton & Bowles creating commercials for Crest toothpaste, including the slogan "You can't beat Crest for fighting cavities." He is also credited with the campaign "I'm Cheryl, fly me" for National Airlines. Yet despite his success in copywriting, all the while he was writing screenplays in the hopes of a film career. It was at this time that he briefly collaborated on a screenplay with Oliver Stone, who was a struggling screenwriter at the time. Initial screenwriting success He moved to Los Angeles after a few years and had three screenplays produced; one of these films, Masquerade (1988), starring Rob Lowe and Meg Tilly, was well received. He started his television career as a staff writer on Hill Street Blues and was nominated for his first Emmy Award for the episode "What Are Friends For?", on which he was the only writer. While working on Hill Street Blues, Wolf became close friends with Tom Fontana, then writing for the series St. Elsewhere, produced in the same building, at the same time. Wolf moved