Howard Gordon (born March 31, 1961) is an American television writer and producer. He is well known for his work on the Fox action series '' 24'' alongside the Showtime thriller ''

Homeland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethn ...

'', which he co-developed with

Alex Gansa Alex Gansa is a screenwriter and producer best known as the creator, executive producer and showrunner of the Showtime series ''Homeland'', based on the original Israeli series ''Prisoners of War'' created by Gideon Raff. He produced and wrote a ...

and

Gideon Raff Gideon "Gidi" Raff ( he, גדעון „גידי" רף; born 10 September 1972) is an Israeli film and television director, screenwriter, and writer. He is best known for his creation of the Channel 2 thriller drama series ''Prisoners of War'', ...

, and for the FX political drama ''

Tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to ...

'', which he co-developed with Craig Wright. He also produced the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

science fiction thriller ''

Awake Wakefulness is a daily recurring brain state and state of consciousness in which an individual is conscious and engages in coherent cognitive and behavioral responses to the external world. Being awake is the opposite of being asleep, in which m ...

''.

Life and career

Gordon was born to a

Reform Jewish Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...

family in

Queens, New York City Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

and graduated from Roslyn High School. After graduating from

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...

with a major in creative writing in 1984, Gordon came to Los Angeles with fellow filmmaker

to pursue a career in writing for television. Both broke into the industry with single episodes of ABC's '' Spenser: For Hire''. Their ''Spenser'' work turned industry heads, and the pair joined the series ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

'' as staff writers, and were later named producers. In 1990, the Gansa-Gordon team was signed to a two-year deal with Witt-Thomas Productions, during which they produced several pilots. One was an ABC project called ''Country Estates'', which caught the attention of producer Chris Carter. Soon after, Carter invited Gordon and Gansa to join ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'' as supervising producers; Gordon wrote or co-wrote several scripts each season, before departing from the series in 1997 to pursue other projects. After co-writing one episode of ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the 1992 film of the same name, also written by Whedon, although the events of the film are not consid ...

'', Gordon created his own show, the short-lived '' Strange World'' in 1999. ''Strange World'' went to seed 13 episodes in, but Gordon and ''Strange World'' writer Tim Minear's services were quickly snapped up by ''Buffy'' creator

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television serie ...

on another project: ''

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles ...

''. After two years with ''Angel'', Gordon jumped ship in 2001 for FOX's successful '' 24'', where he would write several episodes in Seasons 1 & 2, then crafted the entire story arcs for Seasons 3 and 4. Gordon temporarily left ''24'' in the middle of the 2004 season to re-join Minear, this time as co-creator of another FOX series, '' The Inside''. Despite ''The Inside''s cancellation and short run, talk circulated of including the two Minear-Gordon series, ''Strange World'' and ''The Inside'', on a special DVD set sometime in 2006. Beginning in 2006, Gordon became ''24s

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...

, a title he held through its final season. The successful deal led up with his continuing deal at Fox. In 2019, after a stint at Fox through Teakwood Lane Productions, he signed a deal with Sony. Gordon is also the author of the Gideon Davis novels.

''Homeland''

In 2010, after finishing ''24'', Gordon began co-developing (along with

and

) the

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

'' for Showtime. Based on the Israeli series ''Prisoners of War'', it centers on a woman (

Claire Danes Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress. She is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2012, '' Time'' named her one of the 100 most influenti ...

) who works for the CIA and is convinced a recently returned American prisoner of war (

Damian Lewis Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is an English actor, presenter and producer. He is best known for portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', which earned him a Golden Globe nomination ...

) has been turned by

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

. The show premiered Sunday, October 2, 2011, at 10/9 central. It has been met with major critical acclaim and maintained a steady viewership rating throughout its first season. Showtime premiered its fourth season on October 5, 2014. In 2012, he won the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It was first awarded at the 7th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, held in 1955 and it is given i ...

for writing the " Pilot" of ''Homeland'' and the series itself won the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series since its institution in 1951. The award goes to the producers of the series. The award is often cited as one of the "main awards" at the Emmys cere ...

''Awake''

In 2011, Gordon signed on to

's new Kyle Killen

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

pilot ''

'' as an executive producer. When NBC picked the project up to series status, Gordon added writer and showrunner to his occupational duties on the show. The series only ran from March 1 to May 24, 2012, before it was cancelled.

''Second Chance''

In 2015, Gordon was executive producer on the horror-drama series ''Second Chance'' for Fox Television Network. The pilot for ''Second Chance'' is based on a script written by

Rand Ravich Rand Ravich is a film and television director, writer, and producer. He wrote and directed the 1999 science fiction thriller ''The Astronaut's Wife'', starring Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron. He was a producer on the film '' Confessions of a Da ...

, who also worked as an executive producer on the series.

''Accused''

In May 2021, Fox ordered an American adaptation of ''Accused'', the International Emmy-winning British series and it was announced that Gordon would act as executive producer and show-runner. It will be co-produced between

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainme ...

, All3Media America and Fox Entertainment and scheduled to premiere in the 2022–23 television season.

and

David Shore David Shore (born July 3, 1959) is a Canadian television writer. Shore worked on ''Family Law'', ''NYPD Blue'' and ''Due South'', also producing many episodes of the latter. He created the critically acclaimed series ''House'' and more recently, ...

will serve as co-executive producers. It is slated to premiere on January 22, 2023.

Novels

*''Gideon's War'' (also published in the UK as ''The Obelisk'') - 2011 *''Hard Target'' (also published in the UK as ''The Chamber'') - 2012

References

External links

*
Howard Gordon Bio at Icebox.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Howard 1961 births American male screenwriters Television producers from New York City American television writers Homeland (TV series) Jewish American screenwriters Living people People from Queens, New York Primetime Emmy Award winners Princeton University alumni Showrunners American male television writers Screenwriters from New York (state) Roslyn High School alumni