Bill Prady
Prady in 2011
Personal details
Born	William Scott Prady[1] (1960-06-07) June 7, 1960 (age 64) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Spouses	Kelly Pino ​ ​ (m. 1982; div. 1984)​ Kirith Bernstein ​ ​ (m. 1997; div. 2016)​ Jessica Queller ​ (m. 2021)​
Occupation	Writer, television producer
Years active	1984–present

William Scott Prady (born June 7, 1960)^[2] is an American television writer and producer known for co-creating and producing The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019) and The Muppets (2015–2016). He also served as an executive producer on Dharma & Greg (1997–2002), Good Morning Miami (2003), and Gilmore Girls (1997–2002).

Early life

Prady was born in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and attended Wayne State University.^[3][4] He dropped out of the university, and moved to New York City where he worked at a RadioShack. During this time, he was involved in the creation of the FilePro software for the TRS-80.^[5]

Career

In 1983,^[6] Prady was a production assistant for The Jim Henson Company on a proposed television special centering on the world of technology. When the project failed to come to fruition, Prady stayed with the company and worked in the merchandising department. With the encouragement of Jim Henson, Prady began writing on projects including Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series and The Jim Henson Hour (on which he was visually caricatured as the puppet Chip).^[7][8] In 1991, Prady received an Emmy-award nomination for co-writing The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson. He wrote the Disney theme park attractions Muppet*Vision 3D and Honey, I Shrunk the Audience.^[9]

In 1995, Prady joined the writing staff of the HBO series Dream On. In 1997, he joined the writing staff of Dharma & Greg, rising to executive producer and taking over as showrunner in 2001. He also served as a writer and producer on Good Morning, Miami, Caroline in the City, Related, Platypus Man and Gilmore Girls.^[6][10]

In 2003, Prady was one of 135 candidates who ran for Governor of California in the 2003 recall election, receiving 474 votes, tying him for 111th place.^[11][12] In 2007, Prady co-created the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, on which he served as executive producer for the show’s 12-season run.^[6]

In 2012, Prady joined the University of Southern California as an adjunct faculty member in its cinematic arts school.^[13] In April 2015, it was announced that ABC had picked up Prady's pilot presentation for a new version of The Muppet Show with Bob Kushell attached as showrunner.^[14]

In January 2020, Prady signed a first-look deal with Netflix to develop scripted series for the streamer. In 2022, he entered a similar agreement with Warner Bros. Television, signing a first-look deal to develop scripted programming under his production company Pine Tree Entertainment.^[6][15]

Personal life

Prady is Jewish and is on the autism spectrum.^[16][17]

In 2010, Prady was given honorary membership in the Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science.^[18] In 2013, Prady was awarded NASA's Exceptional Public Achievement Medal.^[19] He has served as a trustee of the Humanitas Prize "New Voices" program.^[20] In 2022, Prady was awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa by Wayne State University.^[4]

In 2020, Prady appeared in a small cameo role in Bill & Ted Face the Music.^[21]

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations