American television director
Peter Tolan
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Born
| Peter James Tolan III
(
1958-07-05
)
July 5, 1958
(age 65)
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Occupation(s)
| Screenwriter
,
director
,
producer
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Years active
| 1989–present
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Spouse
| Leslie Tolan
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Children
| 3
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Peter James Tolan III
(born July 5, 1958) is an American
television producer
,
director
, and
screenwriter
.
Early life and career
[
edit
]
Tolan was born in
Scituate, Massachusetts
, where he was a perennial favorite in the high school's dramatic productions. Before leaving to pursue a career in
Hollywood
, Tolan founded a theater group called YPST (Young People's Summer Theatre). The group performed
Broadway
musicals
and rehearsed at a local church. Within three years, the group became so popular that a second production had to be added to accommodate the ever-increasing enrollment.
Tolan attended the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
for four years before dropping out to directly pursue theater. From college Tolan went to Minneapolis'
Brave New Workshop
(founded by improv great Dudley Riggs) at the suggestion of UMass employee Jim MacRostie, who had appeared at the Twin Cities institution during its early years. Riggs offered Tolan a job over the phone, but when Tolan arrived in Minneapolis several months later, he discovered that the job was that of janitor at the theater.
Within a year, Tolan became the musical director for the theater's touring company, and after that graduated to appearing as a member of the main stage cast. In the mid 80's, Tolan moved to New York City, where he and fellow writer-performer
Linda Wallem
formed a double act called Wallem & Tolan and began performing on the
cabaret
circuit in
New York City
at such venues as Don't Tell Mama, Eighty-Eights and Broadway Baby. Wallem and Tolan were known for their sketch work and for musical material (written by Tolan) that became the cornerstone of their act. After an extended run at the Manhattan Punch Line Theater, the act was mounted Off-Broadway at the Theater at St. Peter's Church in 1989. Titled
Laughing Matters
, the show was produced by Sanford Fisher and Zev Guber and directed by Broadway veteran
Martin Charnin
. For his work in the show, Tolan was named Outstanding Lyricist of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Show by the Burns Mantle Theater Yearbook 1988-1989 Best Plays.
Television
[
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]
Tolan began his career writing for short-lived
sitcoms
Carol & Company
and
Wish You Were Here
. After writing for and co-producing the first six episodes of
Home Improvement
he began writing for the hit series
Murphy Brown
, a three-season tenure for which he would share an
Emmy Award
for Outstanding Comedy Series (1992, as co-producer).
[1]
In 1992 Tolan began writing for the
HBO
program
The Larry Sanders Show
, for which he received, in his capacity as co-/executive producer, three
CableACE Awards
for Comedy Series and an Emmy for co-writing (with series lead
Garry Shandling
) the series finale "Flip".
[1]
After writing for several more programs (
Ellen
,
Buddies
,
Good Advice
), and creating the short-lived sitcoms
Style & Substance
and
The George Wendt Show
, Tolan co-created the
ABC
satiric comedy
The Job
with comedian
Denis Leary
, who would also star as an amoral and hedonistic
NYPD
detective. Though critically lauded,
[2]
the series languished in the ratings and was canceled after two short seasons. Tolan went on to create the similarly short-lived sitcom
Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central)
, a mid-season replacement about an idealistic television executive who joins a struggling
network
, that was canceled by ABC after only five episodes aired. In 2004, however, Tolan found success with the
FX
drama
Rescue Me
which he produced under his The Cloudland Company banner.
[3]
Again, he worked with co-creator Denis Leary as
New York City
firefighter
Tommy Gavin, who bears many similarities to Leary's character from
The Job
. The series has been well received by both critics and audiences, garnering Emmy nominations for Tolan and Leary and averaging 2.7 and 2.8 million viewers for its first and second seasons, respectively.
[4]
It ended in 2011 after seven seasons.
[5]
In February, 2013,
Entertainment Weekly
reported that "Tolan landed
Greg Kinnear
to play a defense lawyer with 'zero filter'" on a
Fox Broadcasting Company
television program entitled
Rake
.
[6]
Tolan has also produced pilots with comedian
Jim Gaffigan
and another based on the Israeli series
Bilti Hafich
through Fedora Entertainment, the production company he started with partners Michael Wimer and Leslie Tolan.
Film
[
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]
Tolan has also found success in film, having written the hit comedy
Analyze This
and its sequel
Analyze That
as well as the films
My Fellow Americans
,
Bedazzled
,
America's Sweethearts
,
Guess Who
and
Just Like Heaven
. In 2008 Tolan made his directorial debut with
Finding Amanda
, a semi-autobiographical
[7]
film starring
Matthew Broderick
and
Brittany Snow
.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Tolan is married to editor Leslie Tolan. They have three children; sons Peter John and Benjamin Mark, and daughter Beatrice Grace. He later came out as gay, but it is unclear if he remains married to Leslie.
[8]
Filmography
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
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]
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1950s
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1960s
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1970s
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1980s
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1990s
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2000s
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2010s
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2020s
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International
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National
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Artists
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Other
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