Thomas Schlamme (born May 22, 1950) is an American television director.
In 1973 he moved from his native Houston to New York. After serving in several low level positions for production companies, he founded his own company, Schlamme Productions, in 1980. From there, he produced campaigns for a number of musicals, including Cats. Throughout the 1980s, he produced a number of specials on various entertainers including Whoopi Goldberg and Rowan Atkinson. He directed his first movie, Miss Firecracker, in 1989. He also directed the comedy movie, So I Married an Axe Murderer in 1993 with Mike Myers.
Beginning in the late 1990s, he served as producer for shows such as Tracey Takes On and has directed shows such as Ally McBeal, Friends, ER (for which he was nominated for an Emmy) and Shaun Cassidy's Invasion. Schlamme also directed the pilot episode of Spin City.
He is married to actress Christine Lahti and has three children.
Has three children with his wife Christine Lahti: Sons Wilson and Joseph; daughter Emma.
He has visited the White House several times and, during the Clinton administration, once stayed the night in the Lincoln Bedroom. He drew on observations of White House staffers made during this visit to inspire the visual and behavioral style of the fictional staffers in "West Wing, The" (1999), which he co-created with Aaron Sorkin.
