[4] He then served in the United States Army from 1946 to 1948 during the occupation of Japan after World War II.
He was eventually assigned to Special Services where he entertained troops by participating in theatrical productions.
[4] D'Antoni began his career on television with the production of the specials Sophia Loren in Rome, Elizabeth Taylor in London and Melina Mercouri in Greece.
After The Seven-Ups, D'Antoni, who held the rights to French Connection II and Gerald Walker's novel Cruising, eschewed feature filmmaking and turned his attention to television production where he enjoyed a lucrative contract with NBC.
D'Antoni's crime dramas are characterized by a cold, gritty, "street" perspective with documentary style, often filmed during the bleak New York winter months, and offer the viewer a realistic and often dangerous sense of being an insider, as opposed to using glamorous locations or produced sets.