David Chase, the creator and producer of the megahit HBO series, "The Sopranos."
Born David DeCesare (both of his parents were Italian), David Chase originally dreamed of becoming a rock-n-roll drummer and even spent many years trying to become a star drummer in the 1960s as part of an East Coast rock band. But after that dream faded, he decided to pick up a movie camera and create his own movies. He studied film at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and was also in the graduate film program at Stanford University. After his schooling, he began writing for network TV series, including NBC's "The Rockford Files" starring James Garner, eventually moving through Hollywood as a writer on numerous other shows until he wrote and pitched the pilot for what would become "The Sopranos." The rest is history.
