Gregory Behrendt (born July 21, 1963) is an American comedian and author. His work as a script consultant to the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
sitcom ''
Sex and the City
''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City (newspaper column), newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the ...
'' paved the way for co-authoring of the
''New York Times'' bestseller ''
He's Just Not That Into You'' (2004), later adapted into a film by the
same name.
Apart from that he also hosted two short-lived television shows, ''
The Greg Behrendt Show
''The Greg Behrendt Show'' was a daytime talk show that premiered in syndication on September 12, 2006. The show was distributed by Sony Pictures Television Distribution and was taped at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City.
In addition to airin ...
'' (2006) and ''
Greg Behrendt's Wake Up Call'' (2009).
Early life and education
Greg Behrendt graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater from the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
in 1991, though initially he had enrolled to be a business major and to play rugby.
Career
After graduation, Behrendt moved to San Francisco, where he joined an improvisational troupe, and met fellow comic Margaret Cho. In his early years, he performed comedy and
improv in San Francisco. He was a member of the improv troupe Crash and Burn, whose members included
Margaret Cho
Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...
. He came up as a performer alongside such comics as
David Cross
David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix sitcom ...
(with whom he roomed for years) and
Patton Oswalt
Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...
.
[
He went on to appear on '']The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...
'' and ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien
''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...
''. His stand-up special, ''Greg Behrendt is Uncool'', debuted on Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...
in January 2006.
In June 2006, he appeared on ''Celebrity Poker Showdown
''Celebrity Poker Showdown'' is an American celebrity game show that aired on the cable network Bravo (US TV channel), Bravo. It was a limited-run series in which celebrities played poker, with eight Poker tournament, tournaments during its five-s ...
'', playing for a domestic violence charity. Behrendt was a script consultant for the HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
sitcom ''Sex and the City
''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City (newspaper column), newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the ...
'', "offering script notes from the perspective of a straight man to the writing team, composed of women and gay men".[
With ]Liz Tuccillo
Liz Tuccillo is an American writer and producer best known for her work on the HBO comedy series ''Sex and the City'' and for co-authoring (with Greg Behrendt) the self-help book '' He's Just Not That Into You'', for which they won a Quill Awar ...
, Behrendt co-wrote the 2004 self-help book
A self-help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. The books take their name from '' Self-Help'', an 1859 best-seller by Samuel Smiles, but are also known and classified under "self- ...
'' He's Just Not That Into You''. It was adapted by Drew Barrymore
Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...
's Flower Films
Flower Films is an American production company owned by Drew Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen.
Filmography
Film
* ''Never Been Kissed'' (1999)
* '' Charlie's Angels'' (2000)
* ''Donnie Darko'' (2001)
* '' Duplex'' (2003)
* '' Charlie's Angels: Fu ...
/Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
as a movie of the same name, premiering February 6, 2009.
With his wife Amiira Ruotola-Behrendt, he co-wrote ''It's Called a Breakup Because It's Broken''.
He released the book ''It's Just a Date!'' in the UK.
His daily daytime "self-help" talk show, ''The Greg Behrendt Show
''The Greg Behrendt Show'' was a daytime talk show that premiered in syndication on September 12, 2006. The show was distributed by Sony Pictures Television Distribution and was taped at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City.
In addition to airin ...
'', premiered September 12, 2006, four months later Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainm ...
announced, in January 2007 that the series would not have a second season, and the show aired its last new episodes in February 2007.
He also did a mid-season program for the 2006–07 television season ''Greg Behrendt's Wake-Up Call'' for ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
, which never aired on the network. The program began airing in January 2009 on ABC's sister cable network SoapNet. He also appeared on the Great Debate at the 2010 Melbourne Comedy Festival
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...
, in which he argued as the third speaker for the negative team on the debate "Food Is Better Than Sex". Behrendt's team, made up of New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
comedian Cal Wilson
Cal Wilson (born 5 October 1970) is a New Zealand stand-up comedian, author, radio and television presenter.
Early life
After attending high school in Christchurch, New Zealand, Wilson completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Canterbu ...
, English comedian Russell Kane
Russell Kane (born Russell David Anthony Grineau; 19 August 1975) is an English writer, comedian, and actor. He has 4 times been nominated at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, winning the Best Comedy Show award in 2010. Although known mainly for st ...
and Behrendt himself, won the comedy event.
He started the podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
'' Walking the Room'' with his friend Dave Anthony
David Sean Anthony (born August 26, 1967) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and podcaster. He is best known as the creator and co-host of the comedy podcast '' The Dollop'', in which he tells notable stories from American history to ...
.
Personal life
He is married to Amiira Ruotola. They have two daughters, Mighty Luna and Bella True.[Just who is Greg Behrendt?](_blank)
''OC Register
''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digital Fiest/Media News subsidiaries. ...
'', November 11, 2008 He is a recovering alcoholic. He plays guitar in his own surf/rockabilly instrumental band, The Reigning Monarchs.
In June 2015, Behrendt announced via his Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
Fan Page that he was battling cancer, and had undertaken three rounds of chemotherapy. He discussed his diagnosis on episode 16TF of Jimmy Pardo's podcast "Never Not Funny", as well as Wil Anderson's podcast "Wilosophy" on July 9, 2015. He stated that he had a form of lymphoma
Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...
. His cancer is in remission as of late 2015.
Literary works
* ''Pocket Guide to He's Just Not That into You: The No-excuses Truth to Understanding Guys'', with Liz Tuccillo. Peter Pauper Press, Inc., 2005. .
*
*
*
Comedy albums
* ''Greg Behrendt Is Uncool'' (2006)
* ''That Guy From That Thing'' (2009)
* ''Original Uncool'' (2011)
** (contains much of the same material as ''Greg Behrendt Is Uncool'')
* ''Why Are You In Here?'' (2018)
References
External links
Greg Behrendt's official website
*
Greg Behrendt Does Not Rock
a short film
Interview with Greg Behrendt
at WickedInfo.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Behrendt, Greg
1963 births
Living people
American television writers
American male television writers
American male non-fiction writers
American stand-up comedians
Writers from San Francisco
American self-help writers
American television talk show hosts
University of Oregon alumni
Contestants on American game shows
American male screenwriters
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
Screenwriters from California
Comedians from California