- Born
- Height6′ 2½″ (1.89 m)
- Gregory Nelson "Greg" Joseph has had a dual career: as writer, Hollywood biographer and former journalist and television critic who counts a Pulitzer Prize among his achievements, and as an actor honored with a prestigious Hollywood acting award whose performances have been recognized in festivals throughout the United States and abroad. He appeared as a Guest Programmer on Turner Classic Movies on the cable channel's 25th anniversary, and that same year was invited by The New York Times to meet with its op-ed editors for the second annual "Evening With Letters" conference after being handpicked as one of paper's top 30 regular contributors. In September 2021, the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, a museum located on the spot occupied by the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy, invited Greg to participate in its Oral History Project "to chronicle the assassination ... and present the contemporary culture within the context of presidential history."
The tall (six-feet-two-and-a-half), lean and angular actor, known for his many looks and ability to change his appearance to fit a wide range of characters in a variety of genres, stars as a military veteran in "The Last Dance," a romantic drama named an Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner; won Best of Festival character acting honors at the Hollywood Shockfest Film Festival for re-creating an iconic horror favorite in "Ritual," which won two other top awards at Shockfest and was also an Official Selection at the Shockerfest International Film Festival in Los Angeles, the Big Bear Horror-Fi Film Festival, A Night of Horror International Film Festival in Sydney, Australia, the Indie Horror Film Festival in Chicago, the Chicago Horror Film Festival, and the Guam International Film Festival; has the lead as a polygamist cult leader in "When the Dogs Cried Out," a film à clef that won Best Ensemble Acting at the New York First Run Film Festival as well as a National Board of Review Commendation; was nominated as Best Lead Actor at the Show Low International Film Festival for his portrayal of a deadly Middle East sentencing judge in "Zarin," a drama inspired by a true story that was also an Official Selection of the Love International Film Festival in Los Angeles and the Online Global Peace Film Festival; stars as a murderous rogue cop being pursued by his police-detective son in "Cover," which was a Semi-Finalist in the Action/Cut Short Film Competition in Los Angeles; stars as the film's only character, a fanatical collector who makes a grisly discovery in the park, in "Detector," a thriller chosen as an Official Selection of the Phoenix Film Festival; and stars as the title character, a washed-up ventriloquist, in the two-character drama "The Amazing Mortimer," which won Best of Fest honors at the Southern Arizona Independent Film Festival, was a top winner at the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Festival of Media Arts, and was an Official Selection of the Phoenix Film Festival.
Other recent portrayals include The Soulless Gunfighter opposite Danny Trejo and Bill Engvall in the Western satire "Cowboy Dreams" (an Official Selection of three prominent Hollywood film festivals--the HollyShorts Film Festival, an annual Academy Award®-qualifying independent short film festival, the L.A. Shorts International Film Festival, and the Dances With Films Film Festival, where it was also an Opening Night Showcase Film; it also was a featured presentation and Official Selection of the Phoenix Film Festival); the co-starring role of the veteran astronaut in the science fiction TV series "H.O.P.E."; the pivotal role of the lead attorney in "Poison Sky," a feature film about the environment, with Kevin Sorbo ("Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," "Andromeda"); and the role of the minister in the feature film "Room for Rent," which stars scream queen Lin Shaye ("A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Critters," the "Insidious" film series).
Greg made his big screen debut in an auspicious way _ co-starring opposite Michael Douglas in the major feature "Adam at Six A.M.," which was produced by screen legend Steve McQueen ("Bullitt") and has since gone on to achieve cult status.
He was nominated for the 2015 Governor's Arts Award, an honor described as "the most prestigious, recognizing excellence in artistic expression and outstanding contributions to the arts community," as well as for the 2016 Filmstock Film Festival Barry E. Wallace Citizenship Award, for "those that promote encouragement and positive influences in their film community."
He continues to hone his craft, most recently studying improvisation with Oscar-winner Alan Arkin ("Little Miss Sunshine"), a founding member of Second City.
In April 2019, he appeared on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) with host Ben Mankiewicz as a guest programmer as part of the cable channel's silver anniversary after winning a national contest as one of the country's top 25 "super classic movie fans," and was in a number of promotional spots marking the occasion. In addition, Greg has won two other TCM contests testing his knowledge of classic films, being chosen to represent his state in TCM Spotlight's "50 States in 50 Movies," and for his essay on "Hollywood's Greatest Year."
Greg was born and reared in Kansas City, Missouri, the only child of Theodore Joseph, a jeweler who as a young man dreamed of leaving his native Cleveland to go to Hollywood and become an actor himself, and Marcella (Nelson) Joseph, an artist and graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute who studied with the famous muralist Thomas Hart Benton, whose work adorns the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library.
He attended Rockhurst High School, a Jesuit college preparatory school in Kansas City, and began acting at age 13 in local stage productions. He went on to earn an honors degree in Drama from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he was nominated for a Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship and was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, the nation's oldest all-discipline honor society, which recognizes students both for being ranked scholastically at the top of their class and for their integrity and high ethical standards.
At UMKC, he studied with artist-in-residence Robin Humphrey, a former Broadway actress who had been a member of Lee Strasberg's first class of students at the New York Actors Studio with Marlon Brando, and also taught Drama on a graduate assistantship through the university.
His first professional acting job came in his senior year, when he performed with The Missouri (now Kansas City) Repertory, appearing in productions of "The Miser" and "Oedipus Rex," the latter directed by Alexis Minotis, a film veteran (Alfred Hitchcock's "Notorious") and co-founder of the Royal Theatre of Athens with his wife, actress Katina Paxinou (Oscar winner for "For Whom the Bell Tolls").
That same year, Greg was invited to audition for John Houseman as the Oscar-winning actor-producer, perhaps best known for his collaboration with Orson Welles, was assembling his first Drama Division class at The Juilliard School.
Months after graduation, he landed a principal role in the McQueen-Douglas production "Adam at Six A.M.," which was shooting both in Missouri and in Hollywood.
Greg's unusually assured performance in the film as Ed, the straight arrow young pharmacist vying for the hand of leading lady Lee Purcell _ a role that was to have been cast in Hollywood _ drew praise from the film's producers and writers, who invited him to the West Coast. He accepted, and moved into a small apartment across from the iconic Grauman's Chinese Theatre in the heart of Hollywood.
Greg, who had worked as a reporter for The Kansas City Star while in college, continued to write upon moving to Hollywood as a means of supplementing his income and complementing his acting.
He supplied jokes for Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show," then returned to newspapers, reporting for several of the largest dailies in the United States, moving freely among breaking news, investigative work, entertainment, and arts criticism, with many of his articles appearing in syndication worldwide.
He went on to win a number of writing and reporting awards, including sharing the 1979 Pulitzer Prize as a member of The San Diego Tribune staff for its coverage of one of the worst commercial airliner crashes in U.S. history. His other notable assignments included traveling to the Middle East during the infamous hostage crisis in Iran.
Greg is also an award-winning profile writer whose subjects span the cultural spectrum and are among the most influential figures of the 20th and early-21st centuries. Writers including Ray Bradbury, Neil Simon (the most commercially successful playwright in American history), Irving Stone, Joseph Wambaugh, Leo Rosten, Nora Ephron, David Halberstam, Haynes Johnson and David McCullough. Newspaper columnists Ann Landers and Erma Bombeck. Igor Cassini, syndicated gossip columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain, one of the journalists who wrote under the pseudonym "Cholly Knickerbocker" and coined the term "jet set" (the brother of Oleg Cassini, fashion designer for Jackie Kennedy). James Kavanaugh, a former Roman Catholic priest who wrote the seminal 1967 book on Church reform, "A Modern Priest Looks at His Outdated Church." NASA astronauts Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, and Richard O. Covey, mission control spacecraft communicator during the Challenger disaster and pilot of the first Space Shuttle flight after the tragedy. Lillian Boyer, American wing-walker christened "Empress of the Air" for her many aerial stunts performed from 1920 to 1928. Nuclear physicist Harold Brown, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and U.S. Secretary of the Air Force, at the time president of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Navy Commander Lloyd "Pete" Bucher, who, along with his ship and crew, were captured by the North Koreans in 1968 in what came to be known as "the Pueblo incident." Activists Bella Abzug and Angela Davis. Presidents' sons Elliott Roosevelt (Franklin D. Roosevelt) and Michael Reagan (Ronald Reagan). "King of Torts" attorney Melvin Belli. Influential pediatrician and activist Benjamin Spock. Children's author Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel. Classic animators including four of Disney's "Nine Old Men," Joseph Barbera of Hanna-Barbera, legendary Warner Bros. Looney Tunes auteur Chuck Jones, former Disney-Pixar chief John Lasseter, and "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening. Dancer-choreographers Agnes de Mille and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Fess "Davy Crockett" Parker. Hall of Fame baseball legend Willie Mays. Baseball player-turned-Hall of Fame broadcaster Joe Garagiola. Boxers Sugar Ray Robinson (often described as the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the history of the sport), Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton. Film luminaries including directors Frank Capra, Billy Wilder, Robert Wise, Stanley Kramer, Richard Donner, Richard Rush, Tony Bill, Wes Craven and Spike Lee, and actors Cary Grant (in one of his last interviews), Jimmy Stewart, Jackie Cooper, Paul Henreid, Norman Lloyd, Gregory Peck, Rod Steiger, Jack Lemmon, Cliff Robertson, Peter Falk, Robert Loggia, Barry Bostwick ("The Rocky Horror Picture Show"), Dick Van Dyke, George Peppard, June Allyson, Eva Marie Saint, Jane Russell, Cyd Charisse, Patty Duke, Janet Leigh, Pam Grier, Jean Stapleton, Carroll O'Connor, Christopher Reeve, Jim Carrey, John Goodman, Ann Jillian, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Robert Urich, and Richard Dean Anderson ("MacGyver"). Joyce Selznick, niece of "Gone With the Wind" producer David O. Zelznick, talent agent, screenwriter and casting director whose discoveries included '50s matinee idol Tony Curtis (father of Academy Award-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis). Deaf actor, director, author and teacher Howie Seago, a central figure of the American Deaf Community, whose career has ranged from the National Theatre of the Deaf to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to television ("Star Trek: The Next Generation"). Comedians Bob Hope, Mort Sahl, Jerry Seinfeld, and David Steinberg. Will Rogers Jr. (discussing his iconic late humorist father). Network TV news anchors Douglas Edwards (the first presenter of a nationally regularly scheduled television newscast by an American network) and Tom Brokaw (author of "The Greatest Generation"). Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns ("Brooklyn Bridge," "The Civil War"). TV executive Fred Silverman (the first person to be programming chief of each of The Big Three networks). Composer Frederick Loewe of the "My Fair Lady" songwriting duo Lerner and Loewe. Stage critic Clive Barnes ("the most powerful man on Broadway"). Musicians Frankie Laine, Patti Page, Joan Baez, Graham Nash, Kenny Rogers and Tony Orlando. Oscar-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler (named one of the 10 most influential in the history of film). Makeup guru Michael Westmore of the legendary Hollywood makeup dynasty. Actor, screenwriter and director Buck Henry ("The Graduate," "Get Smart"). "The last silents star" Diana Serra "Baby Peggy" Cary. Silent film star Mary MacLaren (Douglas Fairbanks Sr.'s co-star in the 1921 silent film classic "The Three Musketeers" -- and one-time girlfriend of Rudolph Valentino). Christina "Mommie Dearest" Crawford. Early-Hollywood publicist Andy Hervey (Warner Bros.' very first). "Voice of Snow White" Adriana Caselotti from the groundbreaking Disney animated feature (whose voice also can be heard in the film classics "The Wizard of Oz" and "It's a Wonderful Life"). And some of nascent television's most beloved figures, including TV's first super star Milton Berle, the first "Tonight Show" host Steve Allen, Harry von Zell and George Fenneman (announcers and straight men to George Burns and Gracie Allen, and Groucho Marx, respectively), Johnny Carson's sidekick Ed McMahon, "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry and the star of the original TV series William Shatner, Robert Stack (Eliot Ness on TV's classic "The Untouchables"), James Arness (Matt Dillon on TV's long-running "Gunsmoke"), Barbara Hale (Della Street on "Perry Mason") and her husband Bill Williams ("The Adventures of Kit Carson"), Donna Douglas (Elly Mae Clampett on "The Beverly Hillbillies"), "Leave It to Beaver" mom Barbara "June Cleaver" Billingsley, "Father Knows Best" dad Robert "Jim Anderson" Young (who later morphed into TV's "Marcus Welby, M.D."), and revered children's show personalities Fran Allison ("Kukla, Fran and Ollie"), Buffalo Bob Smith ("Howdy Doody") and Bob Keeshan ("Captain Kangaroo").
He also pulled back the curtain on a number of entertainment classics, gathering behind-the-scenes accounts from people who were closely involved in those productions. Films such as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Casablanca," "It's a Wonderful Life," "On the Waterfront" and "Some Like It Hot"; radio's most infamous broadcast, Orson Welles' 1938 Halloween Eve "night-that-panicked-America" "War of the Worlds" program, for which he interviewed the man who wrote the show's script, and television series ranging from "Gunsmoke" to "Star Trek" to "Sesame Street" to "The Tonight Show," for which he talked to stars, writers, producers and network presidents.
He interviewed those who had taken part in nine of the first 25 films chosen for preservation by the Library of Congress National Film Registry for their historical, cultural and/or aesthetic significance (since 1989, some 850 films of all lengths and types have been selected).
In January 1991, escorted by then-CNN president Tom Johnson, he became the first print journalist permitted inside CNN during the first Persian Gulf War, the first time in history a war was being covered in real time, live, on television. CNN was the only 24-hour TV news network at the time, and the war was broadcast globally, watched by everyone from heads of state (including those of adversaries) to average people sitting at home in their living rooms, more than a billion viewers worldwide. The watershed reporting put CNN, and the concept of nonstop television news coverage, on the cultural map, something we now take for granted.
He wound up his long journalism career as a TV critic, first of The San Diego Tribune (now The San Diego Union-Tribune), then of The Arizona Republic.
In June 2019, he was invited by The New York Times to meet with its op-ed editors for the second annual "Evening with Letters" conference after being handpicked as one of the paper's top 30 regular contributors from across the U.S.
In September 2021, the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, a museum located on the spot occupied by the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy at the time of the killing, invited Greg to participate in its Oral History Project "to chronicle the assassination ... and present the contemporary culture within the context of presidential history." The museum supports the Dealey Plaza National Historical Landmark District and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza.
Greg thus far has written two books, a collection of his profiles and a political thriller, both of which are now seeking publishers. He is also writing several screenplays.
Greg has been a member of the Screen Actors Guild (now SAG-AFTRA) since 1970. His industry activities include service on SAG's Prime-Time TV Nominating Committee, its National Committee for Performers with Disabilities, and its State Board of Directors; on the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmy) Regional Board of Governors; on the Film & Media Coalition Board of Directors, and as a member of the Television Critics Association.
He is listed as actor, critic and advocate in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World, and is a recipient of the 2017-2018 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.
Greg and his wife of 50 years, Mary, have three children (John, Jacqueline and Caroline) and two granddaughters (Frida and Lily).- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous - Greg Joseph's long list of portrayals has spotlighted a wildly diverse bunch of characters: an aging ventriloquist struggling for survival, a murderous rogue cop being stalked by his detective son, a disturbed physician turned dark avenger, a crumbling Army veteran coping with loss, a demented polygamist cult leader, a horse-tramp Old West demon, a former U.S. Secretary of State forced into homelessness, a deadly Middle East sentencing judge _ and a simple guy with a metal detector who stumbles across a disconnected hand in the park.
Greg's professional break came when he was cast in a principal role as "the other man" opposite Michael Douglas in the "two Americas" drama "Adam at Six A.M.," a major feature film and cult favorite produced by legendary actor Steve McQueen. The performance brought an invitation to Hollywood.
Recently, he's starred in a drama named an Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner ("The Last Dance"), won the Best of Festival Character Acting Award at the Hollywood Shockfest Film Festival ("Ritual"), has the lead in a film that won Best Ensemble Acting at the New York First Run Film Festival as well as a National Board of Review Special Commendation ("When the Dogs Cried Out"), was nominated as Best Lead Actor at the Show Low International Film Festival ("Zarin"), plays the only on-screen character in a drama chosen as a Phoenix Film Festival Official Selection ("Detector"), and stars in a two-character drama that won Best of Fest honors at the Southern Arizona Independent Film Festival and was a top winner at the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Festival of Media Arts ("The Amazing Mortimer").
He has leading roles in the Western satire "Cowboy Dreams" opposite Danny Trejo and Bill Engvall and in the feature "Poison Sky" with Kevin Sorbo ("Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," "Andromeda"), co-stars in the science fiction television series "H.O.P.E.," and plays the minister in the feature film "Switched for Inheritance" (also titled "Room for Rent") starring scream queen Lin Shaye ("A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Critters," the "Insidious" film series).
In April 2019, he appeared on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) as a guest programmer alongside host Ben Mankiewicz after winning a national contest as one of 25 "super classic movie fans" chosen from throughout the U.S. to mark the cable channel's silver anniversary.
Greg holds an honors Drama degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, through which he taught on a graduate assistantship and was nominated for a Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship.
In college, he trained with Robin Humphrey, a former Broadway actress who had been a member of Lee Strasberg's handpicked first class at the New York Actors Studio with Marlon Brando.
In his senior year, he was invited to audition for John Houseman, as the Oscar-winner ("Paper Chase") perhaps best remembered for his long association with legendary actor-director Orson Welles was assembling his first Drama Division class at The Juilliard School.
Most recently, he studied improvisation with Alan Arkin, an Oscar-winner ("Little Miss Sunshine") and founding member of the iconic Second City comedy troupe.
Greg has served on the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmy) Regional Board of Governors; the Screen Actors Guild Prime-Time TV Nominating Committee, its National Committee for Performers with Disabilities and its State Board of Directors; on the Film & Media Coalition board, and as a member of the Television Critics Association.
He was nominated for the 2015 Governor's Arts Award, an honor described as "the most prestigious, recognizing excellence in artistic expression and outstanding contributions to the arts community," and for the 2016 Filmstock Film Festival Barry E. Wallace Citizenship Award, for "those that promote encouragement and positive influences in their film community."
Greg, who once supplied jokes for Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show," is also a former performing arts critic and newspaper reporter who, as a member of The San Diego Tribune, shared the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for reporting on one of the worst air disasters in U.S. history.
At one point, he was also The Tribune's celebrity profile writer, focusing on seminal public figures across the cultural spectrum, ranging from the likes of influential pediatrician Benjamin Spock, children's author Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel and social activist Angela Davis, to legendary show business figures, including film directors from Frank Capra, Billy Wilder and Robert Wise to Wes Craven and Spike Lee, and actors from James Stewart, Cary Grant and Gregory Peck to Jim Carrey and John Goodman.
He wound up his journalism career as TV critic of The Tribune, then of The Arizona Republic.
In June 2019, he was invited by The New York Times to meet with its op-ed page editors after being handpicked as one of its 30 "regulars" _ top regularly published letter writers from throughout the U.S. _ for its second annual "An Evening with Letters" conclave held at the paper.
He has thus far written two books, a novel and a collection of his profiles, which are now seeking publishers. He also is writing several screenplays.
Greg is listed as actor, critic and advocate in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World, and is a recipient of the 2017 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous - Greg Joseph holds an Honors B.A. in Drama from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he studied with Lee Strasberg's New York Actors Studio founding member Robin Humphrey, was a Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellow nominee, and was invited to audition for producer, director and Oscar-winning actor John Houseman as he inaugurated the Drama Division at The Juilliard School.
His training includes improvisation with Second City founding member and Oscar winner Alan Arkin.
His acting honors include the Best of Fest Character Acting Award, Hollywood Shockfest Film Festival ("Ritual"); Star, Official Selection, Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner ("The Last Dance"); Lead, Best Ensemble Acting Award, New York First Run Film Festival, and National Board of Review Commendation ("When the Dogs Cried Out"); Best Lead Actor nomination, Show Low International Film Festival ("Zarin"), and Star, Best of Fest, the Southern Arizona Independent Film Festival, and top winner at the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Festival of Media Arts ("The Amazing Mortimer").
He is a 2015 Governor's Arts Award (as "Artist") and 2016 Filmstock Film Festival Barry E. Wallace Citizenship Award nominee.
Greg's industry activities include service on the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Emmy) Regional Board of Governors; the Screen Actors Guild Prime-Time TV Nominating Committee, its National Committee for Performers with Disabilities and its State Board of Directors, and the Film & Media Coalition Board of Directors.
He has been a member of SAG-AFTRA for 52 years.
Greg also is a writer, former journalist, television critic and member of the Television Critics Association. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting.
An award-winning profile writer, he's written about seminal public figures across the cultural spectrum, ranging from influential pediatrician Benjamin Spock, children's author Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, playwright Neil Simon, science fiction writer Ray Bradbury and dancer-choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov to film luminaries including directors Frank Capra, Billy Wilder, Robert Wise, Stanley Kramer, Richard Donner, Wes Craven and Spike Lee, and actors Cary Grant (in one of his last interviews), Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, Jack Lemmon, Janet Leigh, Jim Carrey and John Goodman.
In 2019, he won a national contest as one of the country's top 25 "super classic movie fans," appearing on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) with Ben Mankiewicz as a guest programmer marking the cable channel's silver anniversary.
That same year, he was invited by The New York Times to meet with its op-ed page editors after being handpicked as one of its 30 "regulars" _ top regularly published letter writers from throughout the U.S. _ for its second annual "An Evening with Letters" conclave held at the paper.
Greg is listed in both Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World as actor, writer and advocate.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous - Greg Joseph has had a two-track career: as writer, Hollywood biographer and former journalist and critic who counts a Pulitzer Prize among his achievements, and as an actor honored with a prestigious Hollywood acting award whose work also has been recognized in Cannes and New York.
An honors Drama graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he was a Woodrow Teaching Fellow nominee and Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society inductee, while in college he also embarked on a journalism career that would see him working for several of the largest newspapers in the United States with his articles appearing in syndication worldwide.
A 50-year-plus member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) where he has served in various posts including state board of directors, Prime-Time TV Nominating Committee and the National Committee for Performers with Disabilities, he also has been a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Emmy) regional board of governors, the Film & Media Coalition board of directors, and the Television Critics Association (TCA).
Recent career highlights include being a Governor's Arts Award nominee, appearing on Turner Classic Movies as Guest Programmer to mark the venerable cable channel's silver anniversary, and selection by The New York Times as one of its top contributors.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous - Greg had a nearly 40-year newspaper career as reporter, editor, columnist and television critic, and shared a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news.
He also is a professional actor and 53-year member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), and has served in various posts with that organization. He has won a prestigious Hollywood acting award, and his performances have been recognized at Cannes, in New York and at various film festivals around the country.
Born and reared in Kansas City, Missouri, he earned an honors degree in Drama from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he taught on an assistantship, was a Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship nominee, and was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi national honor society.
He began his reporting career while in college with The Kansas City Star, had a long stint with The San Diego Union-Tribune, and finished as the television critic of The Arizona Republic.
He has had dual career as actor and writer, at one point living and working in Hollywood, and interviewed and profiled some of the most influential figures of the 20th century, especially in entertainment.
"In essence, I was being paid to learn and to meet the most fascinating people in the world," he said. "Not a bad gig."- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- SpouseMary Martha Stahler(July 21, 1973 - present) (3 children)
- Gender / Gender identityMale
- Lanky build
- Often plays characters of intelligence and bearing, such as doctors, lawyers, judges and teachers
- Has many different appearances
- His son, John, graduated with a degree in Physics from the United States Naval Academy, went on to become a decorated Navy pilot in the second Gulf War, subsequently earned dual Master's degrees in Business and Environment at Stanford University, and is an executive with a national social media company. Greg's older daughter, Jacqueline, earned her Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Communications from Northern Arizona University, attended law school, and after stints with Disney and PBS, owns and operates her own eBay company. His younger daughter, Caroline, earned a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Arizona State University, worked as a special education teacher, and now is a consultant at a financial firm aiding those studying for their doctorates.
- At the age of 14, met then-Sen. John F. Kennedy during a campaign rally in October of 1960 at a shopping center near Greg's home in Kansas City, Missouri. He was so moved by the experience that he named his three children after the Kennedys -- John, Jacqueline, and Caroline.
- In preparing for his starring role as astronaut Henry Taylor in the science fiction TV pilot, "H.O.P.E.: Life Alone," Greg not only draws upon his NASA contacts _ as a newspaper reporter years before he profiled Richard Covey, who was about to command the first U.S. shuttle flight after the Challenger tragedy, and Sally Ride, a pioneering U.S. woman astronaut _ he also taps into the experiences of his son, a decorated Navy pilot in the Iraq War and graduate of the United States Naval Academy who had aspired to be an astronaut and had met Covey and other astronauts himself. In the TV series, Greg wears a ring patterned after his son's Naval Academy graduation ring.
- His first college acting teacher was Robin Humphrey, one of the New York Actors Studio's first class of 13 students (one of her classmates was Marlon Brando).
- His classmate at Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri, seated one desk over, was an excruciatingly shy boy who drew chuckles for his deep red blushing whenever the teacher called on him. The boy: Jack Soden -- now Chief Executive Officer of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.
- Just about every good acting teacher - the great Stella Adler is one that comes foremost to mind - will tell you that actors worth their salt can't be isolated from the real world. They need to be aware and use that in their performances. I've come to realize that firsthand. As a writer and former journalist, I've always thought that I was "going to acting school," as it were, when I was covering a story or talking to people from every walk of life.
- Take the business and your job seriously, but not yourself. Have fun, and make life as enjoyable as possible for everyone around you on the set, from cast to crew to producer to caterer. We need each other.
- I've found when you love what you do that even adversity is a form of success. You're still in the game! I love acting, so even when I face so-called rejection, I'm on the team and know I'll get my swings the next time up. Conversely, when you're not doing what you like, every little problem is an irritant, and so-called "success" really doesn't mean all that much because you're on the wrong team in the wrong game.
- I had a huge break early in my acting career, when I was 23 or 24, acting opposite Michael Douglas in a movie produced by Steve McQueen, stopped to raise a family, and in between, turned to writing to make a living and interviewed every big star and covered every Hollywood event I could think of. It made me realize that maybe I hadn't been as ready as I thought I was for fame and and things happen for a reason. Now that I'm back, my focus is on being the best person I can be, having fun and working hard at my craft. If it's meant to be, it'll happen. If not, I've had a great life, better than most people in this world can ever dream of. I've won, I've been blessed, no matter what.
- When I stopped acting for a while to raise a family, I worked as a writer, interviewing and being around some of the biggest stars in the business. I learned that fame is like a distant, unknown island that lures us. When some reach it, they're prepared and survive. Others - too many - aren't and shouldn't have gone near the water in the first place.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content