The creative genius behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly, acclaimed writer and director Joss Whedon (1964-) was born on this day and grew up in Manhattan, the youngest of three boys.

"I was the sad, unlovable child, who had a perfectly normal childhood," he recalled. "I never felt like anything was right in life and didn't understand why it seemed so easy for everyone else."

A graduate of Connecticut's elite Wesleyan University, Whedon's Emmy-winning Dad wrote for The Dick Cavett Show and Alice and his grandfather wrote for The Donna Reed Show and Leave It to Beaver.

In 1988, the talented young Mr. Whedon wrote for the sitcom Roseanne. He followed up with his first film script, Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1992). Whedon soon became a Hollywood "script doctor," working writing magic on Toy Story (1995), Speed (1994), Waterworld (1995), and Alien Resurrection (1997).

Building a reputation for imagination, wit, and excellence, in 1997, Whedon resurrected Buffy for television immortality. His vision and Buffy's heroic journey became cult legend. "We don't need heroes so much as recognizing ourselves as heroes," he said.

With a lifelong passion for comic books, Whedon has written the Dark Horse Comics miniseries Fray and Marvel's Astonishing X-Men. "The great thing about comic books is you can do whatever you want as far as the story goes. There are no real limitations to what you can create."

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