Greg Kinnear

The son of a U.S. diplomat, Greg Kinnear was born in Indiana but raised in such far-flung places as Lebanon and Greece. While attending high school in Athens, he made his first foray into broadcasting by hosting a talk show (School Daze with Greg Kinnear) on Armed Forces Radio. The budding talkmeister returned stateside to attend college in Arizona and majored in broadcasting. Upon graduation, Kinnear moved to Los Angeles and landed bit TV roles but he came to prominence in 1991 as the sarcastic host of the cable series Talk Soup and won a Daytime Emmy as one of the show's producers. He next waded into the late-night waters with his own eponymous talk show but when it failed to click with viewers he turned his attention to films and made his screen debut in 1994 alongside Damon Wayans in the superhero comedy Blankman. Kinnear's winning performance quickly attracted the attention of A-list directors, such as Sidney Pollack (Sabrina) and Garry Marshall (Dear God), but it was James L. Brooks who gave Kinnear an image-changing role as a gay artist in 1997's As Good as It Gets that catapulted his career and earned Kinnear his first Oscar nomination. He followed that smash with another hit (You've Got Mail) and a few misfires from other elite helmers, including Mike Nichols and Sam Raimi, and then in 2002 Kinnear top-lined the sex-soaked Auto Focus as the late Bob Crane of Hogan's Heroes fame. The Paul Schrader film failed to find an audience but earned Kinnear glowing notices and once again proved his versatility as an actor. He finally achieved box-office success with the animated Robots before cheering audiences in a pair of 2006 fan favorites, the indie smash Little Miss Sunshine and the sports-themed Invincible. Two years later, Kinnear delivered a trio of diverse pictures (Baby Mama, Ghost Town, Flash of Genius) in which he continued to alternate between meaty supporting roles and challenging lead parts. That trend continued in 2010 with the action-packed Green Zone and the romantic drama The Last Song. Kinnear, married to former British model Helen Labdon, is the father of three daughters. ~ Rovi