Rob Thomas (1)

While this August 15th Leo was born in Sunnyside WA he spent most of his growing up years in Texas after his family moved there when he was 10 years old. He graduated from San Marcos high school in 1983 and went on to graduate from University of Texas at Austin in 1987 with a BA in History.

Before going to Hollywood Rob spent 5 years teaching high school journalism, advised the University of Texas student magazine and spent 9 years playing guitar in a band called Hey Zeus that he and 4 friends after their freshman year of college. The fact that none of them knew how to play any instruments when they started made the marginally successful band all the more impressive.

Rob gave up teaching and the band when he landed a job working for Channel One news show aimed at teenagers. While in California his first taste of success was no in television but instead as an author. After landing a literary agent in 1995, Simon and Schuster publishing buys two of the novels he has written, Rats saw God (which is also the title of a Veronica Mars episode) and Slave Day. At this time he is able to quit his job with Channel One.

Although Rob Thomas has critical acclaim for his work on Veronica Mars the road leading there in the television business was not always so glorious. In 1997 he worked a very brief stint as a staff writer on "Dawson’s Creek", then in 1998 his show "Cupid" gets picked up only to be canceled 15 episodes into the show. In May of 1999 he gets hired to run "Snoops" only to leave in June. In the spring of 2001,2002, and 2003 he has multiple projects that he is working on fail to get ordered for the new seasons. Through the rough times though there was a bright spot in 1998 when his first studio movie, Drive Me Crazy" was released.

But things really started to pick up in 2003 when he has a casual meeting with UPS and just happens to mention a script he has been working about a teenage sloth. The script gets bought just three days later, in January 2004 Veronica Mars pilot is ordered into production and finally in 2004 it is ordered to series. Veronica Mars debuts in September 2004 to critical acclaim.

Life his career, his persona life has also suffered and celebrated some ups and downs. He meets a store manager Katie Orr in May 2002. The relationship was on again and off again until March 24 with he asked her to marry him and she said yes. To further the joy of a great relationship, and rising career, Greta Mae Thomas was born to Rob and Katie on March 24, 2005.

Along the road...

...Rob Thomas also became an accomplished writer with their published books:
Rats saw God, Slave Day, Doing Time, Satellite Down and Green Thumb.

...Rob wrote the move Drive me Crazy and first screenplay called Fortune Cookie and directed a 20 minute film called On Air;

...Rob has been a writer and consulting producer for "The Education of Max Bickford" in 2001, was the executive producer on "Metropolis" in 2001, co-executive producer, executive producer and supervising producer for the 1998 show "Cupid".