Mike Judge

Mike Judge is an American actor, animator, film director, screenwriter, and television producer. He was born in 1962 in Guayaquil, the largest city of Ecuador and the country's main port, to expatriate American parents. His father was archaeologist William James Judge, and his mother was librarian Margaret Yvonne Blue. At the time of Mike's birth, William Judge was working for a non-profit organization that promoted agricultural development in Ecuador. Around 1969, the Judge family returned to the United States and settled in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mike spent most of his school years in Albuquerque, receiving his secondary education at St. Pius X High School, a private Roman Catholic high school located in the city. The school was named after Pope Pius X, who lived from 1835 to 1914 and served as pope from 1903 to 1914. After graduating from high school, Judge enrolled at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. He pursued science studies, driven by an interest in a science career, and graduated in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in physics. From 1985 to 1987, Judge held various jobs related to physics or mechanical engineering. He found the work unsatisfying and eventually left it behind. In 1987, he was hired by Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company based in Santa Clara, California, a city located in the center of Silicon Valley and home to the headquarters of several high-tech companies. At the time, Parallax had about 40 employees. Judge worked there for only three months before quitting, citing a dislike for the company's corporate culture and his co-workers. In later interviews, he described his co-workers as reminiscent of the Stepford Wives. These negative experiences influenced his unflattering portrayal of Silicon Valley in his later television work. Judge then attempted to start a new career as a musician, serving as bass player in a blues band. He was part of a music group led by blues guitarist Anson Funderburgh for a couple of years. In the early 1990s, he worked alongside singer and drummer Doyle Bramhall, a well-known figure in the Texas music scene. During this time, Judge was also taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, he became fascinated with animation after seeing animation cels on display. He purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated short films. At the time, he worked from his home in Richardson, Texas. His short films were initially shown at local animation festivals. In 1991, Judge developed "Milton," a series of short films satirizing the typical life of office workers. He voiced all the characters. The films were acquired by Comedy Central and helped showcase his talents to a wider audience. In 1992, he created the animated short "Frog Baseball," depicting two cruel and stupid teenagers. The short was featured in the television series "Liquid Television" (1991–1995), which showcased works by independent animators. The network MTV was sufficiently impressed with the short to order an animated television series featuring its main characters. Judge's first work as a television producer was the animated series "Beavis and Butt-Head" (1993–1997), a satirical and scathing commentary on modern society. In addition to producing the series, Judge voiced the two protagonists and also wrote and directed most of its episodes. The series was considered controversial in its era but was commercially successful, lasting for 7 seasons and 200 episodes. Judge gave permission for the use of supporting character Daria Morgendorffer in the spin-off series "Daria" (1997–2002), which was also successful. He was otherwise not involved in the production of the spin-off. In 1997, Judge directed the animated feature film "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America," which featured the protagonists on a road trip across the United States. The film earned about 63 million dollars in the North American box office and was critically well-received as a satire of youth culture. Judge's next television series was the animated sitcom "King of the Hill" (1997–2010), which was broadcast by the Fox Broadcasting Company. For this series, Judge's partner and co-creator was comedy writer Greg Daniels, who had previously worked as a screenwriter on the popular animated sitcom "The Simpsons." Daniels had written several episodes in seasons 5 to 7 (1993–1996), some of which were considered among the highlights of the series. For "King of the Hill," the creators decided to maintain a relatively realistic depiction of modern life, with much of the humor derived from depicting the frustrations and absurdities of an otherwise mundane existence. The series was both a critical and commercial success, lasting for 13 seasons and 259 episodes. In the late 1990s, Judge wrote and directed the live-action film "Office Space" (1999), which was loosely based on his earlier "Milton" series of animated short films but featured additional characters. The film under-performed at the box office, earning about 12 million dollars from its worldwide release, but sold well in the home video market and became a cult hit. In 2003, Judge and fellow animator Don Hertzfeldt co-founded the annual film festival "The Animation Show," which showcased animated short films from various eras, with the initial goal of covering "everything from