Biography for
Greg Kinnear More at IMDbPro »

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Greg Kinnear was born on June 17, 1963, in Logansport, Indiana, USA to Edward Kinnear, a career diplomat with the US State Department and Suzanne Kinnear, a homemaker. Greg has two brothers--James, vice president-investments at Wachovia Securities in Arizona who was born in 1957, and Steve, a business manager with the Billy Graham Training Center in North Carolina who was born in 1959. His family moved often, including Lebanon and Greece. While a student in Athens, Greg first ventured into the role of talk show host with his radio show "School Daze With Greg Kinnear."

Returning to college in the States, he attended the University of Arizona in Tucson, graduating in 1985 with a degree in broadcast journalism. He headed out to Los Angeles, landing his first job as a marketing assistant with Empire Entertainment. He auditioned to be an MTV VJ, but failed and became an on-location reporter for the channel. He had bit parts on "L.A. Law" (1986) and "Life Goes On" (1989). He would later become the creator, co-executive producer, and host of "Best of the Worst" (1991), which aired from 1990 to 1991. His breakthrough was as first host of "Talk Soup" (1991) from 1994-1994, when he left the show for the NBC late-night talk show, "Later with Greg Kinnear" (1994). In 1994, Kinnear had his first big screen role, as a talk show host in the Damon Wayans comedy Blankman (1994). In 1995 he won the role of David Larrabee in Sydney Pollack's remake of Billy Wilder's 1954 classic Sabrina (1995). Next was the lead in the 1996 comedy Dear God (1996). In 1997, Greg was cast in James L. Brooks's blockbuster comedy-drama As Good as It Gets (1997), receiving an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor. In his next film, the romantic comedy A Smile Like Yours (1997), he starred opposite Lauren Holly as part of a couple trying to have a baby. The film met with lukewarm reviews and a low box office. His next film, You've Got Mail (1998), struck gold. He played Meg Ryan's significant other, a newspaper columnist. Next he played Captain Amazing in Mystery Men (1999). His more recent films have Nurse Betty (2000), Loser (2000), and Someone Like You... (2001).

Spouse

Trivia

1985: Attended the University of Arizona, where he graduated in Broadcast Journalism.

Lived in Greece for a time and can speak Greek.

Member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.

2001: He and wife Helen had a baby, but unfortunately it was stillborn.

Daughter Lily Kathryn Kinnear born September 12, 2003.

13 June, 2006: He and wife Helen became the parents of a second girl, Audrey Mae.

"Kinnear" is used as a verb meaning to surreptitiously photograph someone and was coined by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (a.k.a., The Yarn Harlot, www.yarnharlot.ca/blog); published in an article in the New York Times, "All We Are Saying" (December 23, 2007).

Personal Quotes

Setting goals can blind you to opportunities. You might be trying to get to point C; when opportunity B comes, you don't even look at it because you're going straight to C. I've never had a clear road map. When things come along, I benefit.

[on success in Hollywood] I'd like to believe as much of myself as possible is unaffected by the things that can get a little heady. Being from Indiana has its benefits.

[on his school days] I was always explaining why my term papers were never on time. I think that's where I got my acting training!

I'm just doing the best I can with what I have. There are certain physical limitations to being a WASPy-looking dude from Indiana, right? "Travis Bickle [from Taxi Driver (1976)] Part 2" probably ain't coming my way. So with the roles I get, as best as I can I try to see the cracks within the face and then magnify them in an interesting way.

Where Are They Now

(March 2003) Filming the new Farrelly Brothers film _Stuck On You (2003)_ with Matt Damon.

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