Joss Whedon Biography

Date of Birth: June 23, 1964

The son and grandson of successful screenwriters, it was natural that Joss Whedon should continue the tradition. His father, Tom Whedon, wrote for Alice, Benson and The Golden Girls, while his grandfather, John Whedon, wrote for The Dick Van Dyke Show, Leave it to Beaver and The Andy Griffith Show.

His parents divorced when he was young, and Joss grew up in Manhattan with his mother and his two brothers. He attended Winchester College in England before earning a B.A. in Film Studies in 1987 from Connecticut's Wesleyan University. Moving to Los Angeles, where his father lived with his second wife, Whedon's first job was in a video store, but in 1988 he joined the writing team on the sitcom Roseanne.

Two years later he co-wrote and co-produced the sitcom Parenthood (1990), before making his feature film writing debut with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). For co-writing the screenplay for the hit movie Toy Story (1995), Whedon shared an Oscar nomination with the other writers. He also shared a 1996 Annie Award with them for Best Individual Achievement: Writing. But it was when he created, wrote and directed the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer that Whedon achieved his greatest success. The series was a big hit, running for six years and developing a loyal fan following. It won "Best Show of All Time" at the SFX Millenium Readers Awards in 2002 and earned Whedon a 2000 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.

From Buffy sprang forth another hit series, the spin off Angel, another huge hit with science fiction and fantasy fans. Next, Whedon created the sci-fi series Firefly, but it lasted only one season. Undaunted, and enthused by the solid fan base the show had earned, Whedon brought the series to the big screen in the motion picture Serenity (2005). He later co-wrote the script for the comedy horror flick The Cabin in the Woods (2012) but what really brought him into the limelight was his second directorial feature, the highly-anticipated superhero movie The Avengers (2012). The buzz for the film, which features several big names from the comic book world, including Thor, Captain America and The Hulk, was already overflowing before the film even hit mainstream theatres. Whedon's next project is the Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing (2012).

Whedon lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Kai, their two children and several cats.

Filmography (Director):

Much Ado About Nothing (2012)
The Avengers (2012)
Serenity (2005)