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Gregory Thomas Garcia (born April 4, 1970) is an American television writer, producer and director. He is the creator/executive producer of several long-running sitcoms, including Yes, Dear, My Name Is Earl (in which he made seven cameo appearances), The Guest Book, Raising Hope, and Sprung. He has also worked for the series Family Matters and as a consulting producer on Family Guy.

Early life

Garcia was born in Arlington County, Virginia. His parents Tom and Natalie Garcia raised Greg and his older sister Shelley in the Pimmit Hills neighborhood of Fairfax County, Virginia and then North Arlington, Virginia.

After graduating in 1988 from Yorktown High School (also his mother's alma mater), Garcia attended Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland, where he participated in the Warner Bros. outreach program Writing for Television courses, which ultimately opened the door for him as a writer in Hollywood.

Career

Garcia worked as a board operator and DJ for Tony Kornheiser on The Tony Kornheiser Show radio show on WTEM. He was also an intern for the Don and Mike Show radio program in Fairfax, Virginia.

Relocating to work in Hollywood, his early show business work included as an extra on the teen drama TV series Beverly Hills, 90210 and as a production assistant on Step by Step. In the mid-1990s, he began writing for sitcoms On Our Own and Family Matters, which led to co-writing the pilot for the short-lived series Built to Last with Warren Hutcherson (1997). During the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, he worked as a cashier and janitor at a Burger King in Burbank, California.

Garcia wrote for, created, produced and directed the sitcoms Yes, Dear, Raising Hope, My Name Is Earl, The Guest Book. and Sprung. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for My Name Is Earl in 2006.

Garcia co-wrote the book for the musical Escape to Margaritaville featuring the songs of Jimmy Buffett with Mike O'Malley.

Personal life

Garcia and his wife Kim have three sons, and they reside in the Los Angeles area. Kim and Greg attended the same college, Frostburg State University. Garcia received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Frostburg State University, in May 2024.

Garcia has been incorrectly labeled as a Scientologist, after reports in the Daily Mirror were amplified by actor Alec Baldwin. While several cast members on My Name is Earl cast were Scientologists, Garcia stated:

I am not currently nor have I ever been a Scientologist. ... I am in fact born and raised Catholic.

During the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, Garcia worked as a cashier and janitor at a Burger King in Southern California.

Filmography

References

1. ^ McNamara, Mary (August 28, 2006). "Garcia, we should thank you". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
2. ^ Konheim, Orrin (October 27, 2014). "Comedy Man". Northern Virginia Magazine. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
3. ^ Orton, Kathy (December 13, 2012). "Who Slept Here: 'Raising Hope' creator Greg Garcia has roots in North Arlington". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
4. ^ Brennan, Patricia (August 27, 2006). "'Name'-Dropping With Greg Garcia For 'Earl' Creator, It's About the Folks He Knows -- and Where He's From". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
5. Keveney, Bill (November 22, 2010). "'Raising Hope' creator Greg Garcia is not talking white trash". USA Today.
6. Hibberd, James (January 18, 2013). "CBS orders 4 pilots (two from 'Raising Hope' creator)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 16, 2017 – via ew.com.
7. "George Edwards, Greg Garcia Given Honorary Doctorates at Commencement".
8. Spiegelman, Ian (September 6, 2008). "Greg García Responds to Baldwin: 'I'm Not a Scientologist.'". Gawker.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2009.
9. "Did Greg Garcia (My Name is Earl) just serve me a Whopper at Burger King?". Archived from the original on March 18, 2019.

External links

• Greg Garcia at IMDb

• 1970 births
• Living people
• American television directors
• American television writers
• American male television writers
• Frostburg State University alumni
• American showrunners
• Primetime Emmy Award winners
• People from Arlington County, Virginia
• Screenwriters from Virginia
• Television producers from Virginia
• Yorktown High School (Virginia) alumni
• Sigma Alpha Epsilon members