Joss Whedon, a renowned filmmaker, was born into a family of writers. He is the middle of five brothers, including younger siblings Jed Whedon and Zack Whedon. Whedon's father, Tom Whedon, and his grandfather, John Whedon, were both successful television writers, while his mother, Lee Stearns, was a history teacher who also wrote novels under the pseudonym Lee Whedon. Whedon was raised in New York and attended Riverdale Country School, where his mother taught, and later Winchester College in England for two years. He graduated with a film degree from Wesleyan University.
After relocating to Los Angeles, Whedon landed his first TV writing job on "Roseanne" and later scripted a season of "Parenthood". He then developed a film script that became the 1992 film "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", although he was unhappy with the final product due to extensive rewrites. Whedon went on to earn screenwriting credits on high-profile productions such as "Alien: Resurrection" (1997) and "Toy Story" (1995),for which he received an Oscar nomination. He also worked as a script doctor on notable films like "Speed" (1994).
In 1997, Whedon was given the opportunity to revive his character Buffy in a television series on The WB Network. This time, as showrunner and executive producer, he had full artistic control. The series, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", was a critical and commercial success, running for several seasons, with the last two on UPN. Whedon also produced a spin-off series, "Angel", which was also well-received. He then ventured into sci-fi television with "Firefly", which developed a cult following, although it did not initially find success on air. The show did, however, gain a dedicated fan base through DVD releases and reruns, and a spin-off feature film, "Serenity" (2005),was released.
Whedon has also explored comic book writing and has worked on the sci-fi drama "Dollhouse". Additionally, he wrote the screenplay for Marvel's blockbuster "The Avengers" (2012).
