Joss Whedon Biography

Childhood & Early Life

Joseph Hill ‘Joss’ Whedon was born to Tom Whedon and Lee Stearns in New York City. He is the third of the five children born to the couple. He studied at Riverdale Country School, where his mother was a history teacher. From a very young age, he was extremely passionate about writing and acting and is believed to have been inspired by the works of William Shakespeare, Monty Python, Ray Bradbury, Steven Spielberg, and James Cameron. He studied at Wesleyan University and graduated from there in 1987. He then went to spend a couple of years at Winchester College in England.

Career

He started off as a staff writer for the 1989-1990 sitcom ‘Roseanne’, where he was the writer and also the producer. The same year, he also directed and wrote for the show, ‘Parenthood’. He wrote the script for ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’, which released in 1992, starring Kristy Swanson, Hilary Swank, and Donald Sutherland. The television adaptation of the same was yet to be made. In 1994, he wrote the script for two films; ‘Speed’ and ‘The Getaway’; both of which became blockbuster hits and won a number of awards. His career catapulted to success the following year when he was asked to pen the script for the films, ‘Waterworld’ and ‘Toy Story’. In 1997, his most prized work ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ was written and directed by him as a television series. Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendan, and Alyson Hannigan, the show had a successful run with a total of 144 episodes. The same year, he penned the script for ‘Alien Resurrection’. In 1999, he wrote, directed, and even co-produced another one of his pet projects ‘Angel’ that earned him widespread critical acclaim. The show was a spin-off from the original ‘Buffy’ series and was released on the ‘WB’ channel. The new millennium saw him working on a number of projects including ‘Titan A.E.’ and ‘X-Men’. In 2001, he wrote the script for the movie ‘Atlantis: The Lost Empire’. The following year, he wrote, directed, and co-produced the television series ‘Firefly’, which gathered a cult status. In 2004, he was working on the animated series for ‘Buffy’, which never took off. The next year saw him writing the script for the film ‘Serenity’, which he also happened to direct. Both ‘Firefly’ and ‘Serenity’ gained the top two spots in the poll conducted by New Scientist magazine, ‘The World’s Best Space Sci-Fi Ever’. He also released a series of online shorts, titled ‘R. Tam Sessions’. In 2005, he released the three-issue comic miniseries ‘Serenity: Those Left Behind’ and the second comic book series ‘Serenity: Better Days’ released three years later. In 2009, he wrote, directed, and co-produced the American sci-fi television series ‘Dollhouse’, which ran only for two seasons but was a successful show till the time it ran. 2010-2011 proved to be an extremely busy year for the screenwriter/director as he directed one episode of the hit musical ‘Glee’. He also went on to write the script for one of the biggest blockbusters of the year 2011; ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’, based on ‘The Avengers’ comics. In 2012, he penned the script and produced the thriller flick ‘The Cabin in the Woods’. He also wrote and directed the film ‘The Avengers’, which went on to make waves at the box-office. Year 2013 began with him penning, directing, and co-producing the television show ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’ and for the films ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ and ‘In Your Eyes’.

Major Works

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ is largely regarded as his magnum opus, which had a successful run from March 10, 1997, to May 20, 2003. The story is about a young woman who chooses to battle demonic elements, vampires, and other forces of darkness. The show became so popular that it has a comic book adaptation, ‘Buff the Vampire Slayer’, and another related show, ‘Angel’. The series garnered around 4-6 million viewers from around the globe and was rated as one of the ’50 Greatest TV shows of All Time’.

Awards & Achievements

He won the Eisner Award for ‘Best Continuing Series’ for ‘Astonishing X-Men’ in 2006. He won the Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Special Class- Short-format Live-action Entertainment Program’ for ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’ in 2009. He was presented with the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in ‘Cultural Humanism’ by Harvard University in 2009. He won the Volta Award for ‘Contribution to Film’ in 2013. He won the Bram Stoker Award for ‘Superior Achievement in Screenplay’, which he shared with Drew Goddard, for ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ in 2013. He won the 13th Belfast Film Festival Audience Award for ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ in 2013.

Personal Life & Legacy

He married Kai Cole, who is the co-founder of Bellwether Pictures. The couple has two children and currently resides in Los Angeles. He believes he is a humanist and is an ardent supporter of gay rights.

Trivia

This popular screenwriter/director usually works on strong supernatural or sci-fi themes and always features a powerful female lead in most of his works.