Academy Award nominee GREG KINNEAR (Bob Crane) continues to build on his already impressive resume with roles in the most diverse of projects. Kinnear was most recently seen in the Paramount Pictures/Icon Productions feature "We Were Soldiers" opposite Mel Gibson for writer-director Randall Wallace. The feature focused on the battle of la Drang, which lasted over a month during the Vietnam War. He was last seen on the small screen in the critically acclaimed Norman Jewison HBO movie "Dinner with Friends" alongside Toni Collette, Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell. An adaptation of the Pulitzer-Prize winning play by Donald Margulies, the movie followed two married couples, the bittersweet relationship among them and the aftermath of a separation.
The last few years have been busy ones for Kinnear in the feature film world. He starred in the romantic comedy "Someone Like You" with Ashley Judd and Hugh Jackman, Sam Raimi's supernatural thriller "The Gift" opposite Cate Blanchett and Katie Holmes and in director Neil LaBute's black comedy, "Nurse Betty" opposite Renee Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, and Chris Rock.
Greg Kinnear successfully established himself as a respected member of Hollywood's acting community with his heartfelt performance as Jack Nicholson's unfortunate neighbor Simon, in James L. Brook's Academy Award nominated film "As Good As It Gets." His performance won him the honor of being named Best Supporting Actor by the National Board of Review as well as Best Supporting Actor nominations from The Golden Globes, The Screen Actors Guild and the Academy Awards.
Kinnear made his feature film debut in the Sydney Pollack-directed remake "Sabrina," in which he co-starred with Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond. His performance in "Sabrina" prompted the trade organization of movie theater owners to name him NATO ShoWest's "Star of Tomorrow." Following his Oscar nominated performance in "As Good As It Gets," he co-starred in Nora Ephron's romantic hit comedy "You've Got Mail," opposite Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, Mike Nichol's " What Planet Are You From" opposite Gary Shandling and Annette Benning, and appeared in a cameo role as 'Captain Amazing' in "Mystery Men."
Kinnear first gained prominence as the animated, wisecracking host of E! Entertainment Television's "Talk Soup," for which he won an Emmy Award, rave reviews and established a cult-like following. As the host and executive producer of "Talk Soup," Kinnear was the master of not one, but all talk shows, providing often-hilarious commentary on clips from such programs as "Sally Jesse Raphael," "Jerry Springer," and "Montel."
As the popularity of "Talk Soup" grew, Kinnear captured the attention of NBC executives who were searching for a replacement for Bob Costas. In 1994 Kinnear became the host and executive producer of his own NBC late night talk show, "Later with Greg Kinnear." After three successful years with "Talk Soup," Kinnear left the show permanently to devote more time to "Later with Greg Kinnear."
With his father in the State Department, Greg Kinnear grew up virtually all over the world, his formative years were spent in such disparate locales as: Logansport, Indiana; Washington, D.C.; Beirut, Lebanon, and Athens Greece. He achieved his first International broadcast experience while attending high school in Athens, hosting a show on Armed Forces radio called "School Daze with Greg Kinnear."
He earned a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Arizona, and, upon graduating, moved to Los Angeles. "I knew I didn't want to go into news, but I was sort of in the post-graduate fog of not knowing what to do," he recalls. It was there it was there that he heard of a fledging cable channel called "Movietime" that was looking for hosts. Kinnear dropped off an audition tape and eventually won one of the slots, going on to host a variety of segments on the 24-hour entertainment network.
"Movietime" was eventually taken over by HBO, and the channel was renamed E! Entertainment Television. "They changed everything," Kinnear says. "The name, the format, and the hosts, including me." HBO wasn't about to lose Kinnear, however, and hired him as host of an international entertainment show called "The HBO International Report."
In 1991, Kinnear co-created and executive produced his own series for the Fox Network called "The Best of the Worst." "It was a reality-based comedy show that profiled the worst jobs, the worst movies, the worst TV shows, one of which was ours as it turned out," he laughs.
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