Biography for
Chris Carter (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

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Mini Biography

Born and raised in Bellflower, California, Chris Carter graduated from the California State University at Long Beach with a degree in journalism. Formerly a freelance journalist and editor of "Surfing" magazine, Carter began his career as a screenwriter in 1985 at The Walt Disney Studios. In 1992 Carter began developing projects for Twentieth Century Fox Television, creating "The X Files" (1993), which was the winner of the Golden Globe for Best Drama in 1995 and 1997, Emmy-nominated three times for Best Drama, and winner of a Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting. In 1996 he created the series "Millennium" (1996/I) and in 1999 "Harsh Realm" (1999). For his work on The X-Files, Carter has received three Golden Globe Awards (1994, 1996, 1997), a Writers Guild nomination, two Directors Guild nominations, and an Emmy Award nomination.

Spouse

Trivia

He is a Godfather of Gillian Anderson and Clyde Klotz's daughter Piper Maru.

Has considered titling his eventual and as-yet-unwritten autobiography "Fridays At Nine," the timeslot for the shows he's created, due to their mix of successes and failures.

Brother Craig is a Full Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT

Two of his attempts for crossovers with other television shows failed for the same reasons. The first attempt was to crossover The X-Files with CBS's Picket Fences; CBS feared losing ratings to the newer network. The second attempt was to crossover with WB's Buffy the Vampire Slayer; FOX feared losing ratings to the newer network. David Kelley in the first incident and Joss Whedon in the second were on board with Chris Carter for their respective incidents.

Pitched X-Files to Brandon Tartikoff at NBC, who turned it down.

Under tremendous time crunch, Carter did an all-night audio mix session to finish the X-Files pilot, which was to be shown to FOX execs the following morning. He ended up sleeping on a couch in the FOX Studios lobby.

Personal Quotes

The day I swan around in expensive suits is the day I hope someone puts a bullet in my head.

FOX canceling Harsh Realm (1999) wasn't a surprise to me because it was a very expensive show...it was just disappointing the series didn't have a chance to prove itself.

People thought the storyline and characters for X-Files made it a 'dark' show, but I never saw it that way. I always thought Mulder and Scully were the light in dark places.

It takes crazy attention to detail if you want something to be good.

The television business changed a lot from when I did "The X Files" (1993) to when we did "Harsh Realm" (1999). Television took on the characteristics of the feature film industry, where, if the show didn't open 'big' out-of-the-gate...it was canceled, immediately.

I had been to Vancouver a few years prior to bringing X-Files (1993) there ... so, as a filmmaker, it wasn't a discovery for me because I had friends who knew the area and had shot there before. ...Vancouver really became my home away from home, and to this day I still own a house there.

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