Gary Kent was born on a wheat ranch at Walla Walla, Washington, to Arthur E. and Iola Kent. He graduated from Renton High School in Renton, Washington, and attended the University of Washington for one quarter, where he studied journalism, played football, and pole-vaulted on the track team. However, he did not complete his studies and instead entered the Naval Air Corps in 1952, where he wrote promotion and publicity for the Navy's elite flying team, The Blue Angels.
After his time in the military, Gary Kent began a career in theatre, working in production throughout the South as a writer, director, and actor. He is an alumnus of both the Playhouse and Alley Theatres in Houston, Texas.
In 1955, Kent moved to Hollywood with his wife Joyce and son Greg, where he established a career in motion pictures. Over a 40-year period, he has worked with numerous renowned directors and actors, including Jack Nicholson, Penny Marshall, Alan Arkin, James Caan, Bruce Willis, and Garry Marshall. He has also directed and supplied special effects for various films, including those directed by Peter Bogdanovich, Brian De Palma, Richard Rush, and Monte Hellman.
Kent served as Unit Production Manager on the Academy Award-nominated film Phantom of the Paradise in 1974. He also wrote and directed the film Rainy Day Friends in 1985, which won the Best Special Stunt in a Motion Picture award at the International Stuntman Awards. In 1997, his original screenplay "Where's Bassett's Body?" won 1st Place, Outstanding Script by a Texas Writer, at the Lone Star Screenplay Competition in Dallas.
Gary Kent has received several accolades for his work, including being one of two Guests of Honor at the Bicknell International Film Festival in Bicknell, Utah, in July 2000. He is listed in Who's Who In Entertainment and has six children from his two marriages: Greg, a theatre director; Colleen, a teacher; Andrew, an attorney; Chris, a musician; Alex, a paralegal; and Michael, a visual artist.
