Born on June 17, 1963 in Logansport, Indiana, Gregory “Greg” Kinnear is an American actor and former television personality. He attended the American Community Schools in Athens and ventured into the role of a talk show host. He had a radio show called “School Days with Greg Kinnear.” He graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in broadcast journalism. He then moved to Los Angeles and landed a job as a marketing assistant at Empire Entertainment. He auditioned for an MTV VJ but failed, and moved on to become a host and on-location reporter for Movietime. This became the precursor of his more famous endeavor, E! Entertainment Television.
Greg Kinnear had small roles on series like Life Goes On and L.A. Law. He also hosted the game show College Mad House, which was short-lived. This was followed by Best of the Worst in 1990, of which he was the creator, co-executive producer and host. He achieved fame by becoming the first host of Talk Soup until 1995, when he left the show to star in the late-night talk show Later with Greg Kinnear. In 1994, he had his first big-screen role. He was cast once again as a talk show host in the Damon Wayans comedy Blankman. The next year, he won a part in Sydney Pollack’s remake of Billy Wilder’s Sabrina. In 1996, he was given the lead role in the comedy Dear God. Kinnear then received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the blockbuster comedy As Good as It Gets. He next starred in a romantic comedy opposite Lauren Holly called A Smile Like Yours. The film didn’t garner much attention in the box office, but his next film You’ve Got Mail, earned him popularity.
In 1999, he was cast as Captain Amazing in the action comedy Mystery Men. This was followed by Nurse Betty and Loser, both in 2000. Two years later, he got the lead role in the drama Autofocus, the story of the life and murder of actor Bob Crane. He also starred opposite Steve Carell in the Oscar-winning film Little Miss Sunshine. Kinnear was next cast in Invincible and Unknown in 2006.