Photo: Jean-Paul Aussenard © WireImage.com

Born Joseph Hill Whedon in New York City. Writing is clearly in his blood, since Whedon could arguably be the world's first third-generation television writer. His grandfather, John Whedon (1905-1991), was a successful sitcom writer n the 50s and 60s on "The Donna Reed Show" and "Leave It to Beaver" and his father, Tom Whedon, wrote for the likes of "The Dick Cavett Show", "Alice" and "Benson". After receiving a degree in film studies from Wesleyan University (1987), Whedon moved to Los Angeles and landed his first writing job on the staff of "Roseanne," working as a story editor and writing several episodes of the top-rated series. He later pulled double duty on the NBC series "Parenthood," co-producing and writing a number of episodes. Creator of the popular TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." He has said that he created Buffy to be an "alternative feminist icon". His "Buffy" episode "Hush" was nominated for an Emmy® Award in 2000 for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series. "Hush" featured 28 minutes without dialogue, as a group of fairy-tale demons called the Gentlemen arrived in Sunnydale to steal voices, and then hearts (literally). He also created the TV series "Angel" (1999-2004) and "Firefly" (2002-03). Whedon was asked to revise the script for THE X-MEN movie, and reportedly decided the whole script needed to be totally rewritten; when he handed the studio this draft, they apparently threw it out -- they only really wanted him to add a couple jokes here and there. He lived in the UK for 3 years, attending Winchester College in Hapmshire, where he took his A levels. The character of Rupert Giles is said to be based on a current teacher there. Notable screen credits include BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1992), TOY STORY (1995), ALIEN: RESURRECTION (1997), TITAN A.E. (2000), ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE (2001, treatment), SERENITY (2005), and GONERS (announced for production in 2009). His brother is actor/writer Zack Whedon. Whedon and his wife Kai Cole live in Los Angeles; they have one child.  Nominated for Achievement in Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) 1995: TOY STORY [w. Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen & Alec Sokolow (screenplay); story by John Lasseter, Peter Docter, Andrew Stanton & Joe Ranft] 1 nomination