Joss Whedon Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Joseph Hill Whedon is also addressed as ‘Joss’ and was born in New York City. Joss's parents were Lee Stearns and Tom Whedon.Joseph's mother was a history teacher. Joss attended the Riverdale Country School and was the third born in a family of five siblings. 

Joseph Hill Whedon showed an early affinity for acting and was also interested in writing. He loved the works of Shakespeare, James Cameron, Monty Python and Ray Bradbury.

Joseph Hill Whedon had his university education at the studied at Wesleyan University, where he graduated in the year 1987. Joseph was also at the UK based Winchester College, for a few years.

Early Acclaim

Joseph Hill Whedon wrote part of the plot for “Roseanne,” a sitcom that ran between 1989 and 1990.Joseph was here as a staff writer and a producer. He also directed Parenthood and the script credit also bore his name.

The 1992 acclaimed movie, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was also written by him. This hit the big screen in 1992 with such cast that included Donald Sutherland, Kristy Swanson, and Hilary Swank.

The script for the movie Speed was completed byJoseph in 1994 along with that for The Getaway. These two movies were box office hits, and they raked up he awards.

Hitting The Limelight

Having got a couple of movies that hugged the limelight under his belt, Joseph Hill Whedon was sought after subsequently, in Hollywood. Joseph was contracted to write the script for Toy Story and Waterworld in 1995. Toy story was wrapped around a lad who carries out bank robberies by using his toys. The bank was framed as a box made of cardboard. Waterworld was an action movie with an apocalyptic bent that starred Kevin Costner.

Joseph Hill Whedon turned Buffy the Vampire Slayer to a TV series in 1997, and he directed the production as well. The series featured Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendan, and Sarah Michelle Gellar. It was no wonder that with such talents, the show had an amazing run of 144 episodes in total.

Joseph Hill Whedon ramped up his work for 1997 with the outline and script for the movie, Alien Resurrection.

Surging Acclaim 

Joseph Hill Whedon worked on “Angel” in 1999, and this led to such soaring acclaim for Joss. He adapted this from the initial “Buffy” series and was made available on the platform of Warner Brothers.

At the dawn of the new millennium, Joseph Hill Whedon birthed X-Men and Titan A.E while 2001 saw to the release of Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Firefly was next in the next year, and this gathered such cult-like following.

Joseph Hill Whedon released Serenity in 2004 and was widely acclaimed by New Scientist magazine in its readership poll. Joss also released a couple of short films called “R. Tam Sessions,” and they were released online. 

He is also credited with Serenity: Better Days, Serenity: Those Left Behind, as the completing parts of the trilogy in the Serenity comic miniseries.

Apart from writing ‘Dollhouse,’ which had a successful two-season run, Joss was also responsible for “Captain America: The First Avenger.” 

In 2012, Joseph Hill Whedon wrote the script for The Avengers and The Cabin in the Woods. These were both box office successes. 

Joseph Hill Whedon also wrote, directed and produced “In Your Eyes,” Much Ado about Nothing and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D in 2013. 

Other Notable Mentions

Joss Whedon has won many awards for movies like Serenity, Toy Story as well as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Buffy film was released under Mutant Enemy Productions, his production label. 

Joss Whedon had a successful run as a television writer for series and horror films. He was the director of Marvel’s The Avengers, which was a blockbuster at the box office. Joss carries an amazing personality of cheerfulness and contagious ambition. 

Although Joss Whedon is more acclaimed as a writer, director, and producer of serious films, he also writes comics. Joss successfully created comics for Angel: After the Fall, Runaways, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Astonishing X-Men. He also adopted Wonder Woman and made a success of it.

Joss Whedon had an early dream to be an actor and worked at it to realize his creative inclination. Though he never became an actor, his life on the screen and set is close enough to his childhood dream.

Joss Whedon is celebrated today as a screenwriter, producer, and director with such effusive praise and following; across the movie world. While his signature slant is always the sole protagonist, he slots in other imageries and characters to realize his plots.

Common Attribution

Joss Whedon has won several awards, and in 2006, he got the Eisner Award for Astonishing X-Men in the Best Continuing Series genre. His Emmy Awards came in 2009 for Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog in the genre of Outstanding Special Class- Short-format Live-action Entertainment Program.

Joss Whedon also got a Harvard University Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism in 2009. Joss's Volta Award in 2013 was for Contribution to Film. He also won the Superior Achievement in Screenplay genre at the Bram Stoker Awards. He shared this honor with Drew Goddard. Drew’s work that was highlighted was 2013 film, The Cabin in the Woods.

In 2013, Much Ado about Nothing was what earnedJoss Whedon the honors in the 13th Belfast Film Festival Audience Award. Joss is classified as a humanist and has shown support for the gay movement.

Family

Joss Whedon is married to Kai Cole, who is also an artist. They have two children, and they make their home in Los Angeles.