---
name: "Willie Reale"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/willie-reale"
roles: ["Writer"]
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 84
updated: "2026-09-17T00:12:05.655822+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Willie Reale

Writer. Born in Park Ridge, New Jersey.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Active:** 1993–2007
- **Works often with:** Ed Bianchi, Jean de Segonzac, Nick Gomez

## Biography

Willie Reale is an American writer and lyricist. He grew up in Park Ridge, New Jersey. In 1981 he founded the 52nd Street Project, a theatre organisation for children, and served as its artistic director for eighteen years; he received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1994 for this work.

Reale has written for television series including *Homicide: Life on the Street* (1993), *Damages* (2007), *Billions* (2016), *Blue Bloods* (2010) and *The Sinner* (2017). He was a writer and producer on the PBS series *The Electric Company*, for which he won three Emmy awards. With his brother Robert Reale he wrote the book and lyrics for the musical *A Year With Frog and Toad*, which received two Tony Award nominations. He received an Academy Award nomination for his lyrics for the 2006 film *Dreamgirls*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Damages* (2007), Fi1m 78, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/damages.md)
- *Homicide: Life on the Street* (1993), Fi1m 89, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/homicide-life-on-the-street.md)

## Also known for

- *The Sinner* (2017), Writer
- *Dreamgirls* (2006), Lyricist
- *Billions* (2016), Writer
- *Blue Bloods* (2010), Writer, Teleplay

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/willie-reale