Mike Judge

This article is about the actor, animator, and filmmaker. For the billiards player, see Michael Judge. For the Roman Catholic priest, see Mychal Judge. For the hardcore punk musician, see Judge (band).

Mike Judge
Judge at SXSW 2024
Born
Michael Craig Judge

(1962-10-17) October 17, 1962 (age 62)
Guayaquil, Ecuador
EducationUniversity of California, San Diego (BS)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • animator
  • writer
  • producer
  • director
  • musician
Years active1985–present
Spouse
  • Francesca Morocco
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1989; div. 2009)​
Children3
Signature

Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and musician.[1][2] He is the creator of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997, 2011, 2022–present), and a co-creator of the television series King of the Hill (1997–2010), The Goode Family (2009), Silicon Valley (2014–2019), and Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus (2017–2018). He wrote and directed the films Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996), Office Space (1999), Idiocracy (2006), and Extract (2009), and co-wrote the screenplay to Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe (2022).

Judge was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego,[2] where he studied physics.[2] After losing interest in a career in science, Judge focused on animation and short films. His animated short Frog Baseball was developed into the successful MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head, and the spin-off series Daria (with which Judge had no involvement).

In 1995, Judge and former Simpsons writer Greg Daniels developed King of the Hill, which debuted on Fox in 1997 and quickly became popular with both critics and audiences. Running for 13 seasons, it became one of the longest-running American animated series. During the run of the show, Judge took time off to write and direct Office Space, Idiocracy and Extract. As King of the Hill was coming to an end, Judge created his third show, ABC's The Goode Family, which received mixed reviews and was cancelled after 13 episodes. After a four-year hiatus, he created his fourth show, the live-action Silicon Valley for HBO, which has received critical acclaim.[3] In 2017, Judge's fourth animated series, the music-themed Tales from the Tour Bus, premiered on Cinemax, to acclaim.

Judge has won a Primetime Emmy Award and two Annie Awards for King of the Hill and two Critics' Choice Television Awards and Satellite Awards for Silicon Valley.

  1. ^ "Mike Judge". TV Guide. Archived from the original on May 2, 2008. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Patringenaru, Ioana (June 15, 2009). "From Physics Degree to Hollywood Success". This Week @ UCSD. University of California, San Diego. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  3. ^ "Silicon Valley: season 1". Metacritic. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2015.