Gregory Milmore Poehler (; born October 11, 1974) is an American actor, comedian, producer, writer, and attorney. He created and starred in the Swedish

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

'' Welcome to Sweden''.

Early life

Poehler was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

and raised in

Burlington, Massachusetts Burlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 26,377 at the 2020 census. History It is believed that Burlington takes its name from the English town of Bridlington, Yorkshire, but this has never b ...

. He is the son of high school teachers Eileen Frances (née Milmore) and William Grinstead Poehler. His sister is actress and comedian

Amy Poehler Amy Poehler (; born September 16, 1971) is an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy trou ...

. Poehler earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

in 1996 before attending the

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. In 2013, 91% of the law school's first-time test taker ...

, where he earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

. He was admitted to the New York and Massachusetts bar associations and the

United States Federal Courts The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government. The U.S. federal judiciary consists primaril ...

for the

Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New ...

and the

Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: *District of Maryland * ...

. Finding success as a

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

, he left his day job as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

to pursue a full-time career in show business, in large part influenced by his older sister,

. In 2006, Poehler graduated from

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, s ...

with a masters in European intellectual property law.

Career

After graduating from law school, Poehler moved to the

West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The traditional boundaries of the West Village are the Hudson River to the west, West 14th Street to t ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

and worked as an attorney in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and Sweden where he specialized in

intellectual property law Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

. After twelve years as an attorney, in 2012 Poehler started doing stand-up comedy in Sweden. At the same time, he began writing the script for what became his first TV series, ''Welcome to Sweden'' in which he plays the lead part. In addition to acting he has roles as head writer and producer. His sister,

decided to produce the show after proofreading the script. He also starred in ''

You Me Her ''You Me Her'' is an American–Canadian comedy-drama television series that revolves around a suburban married couple who are entering a three-way romantic relationship, one non-typical type of polyamorous relationship. The series is set in P ...

'', a TV series about a three-way romantic relationship.

Personal life

Poehler moved to Stockholm with Charlotta Meder, his Swedish girlfriend, in 2006 before they married. They have three children. Retrieved 18 July 2021

Filmography

Other

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poehler, Greg 1974 births 21st-century American male actors American emigrants to Sweden American male film actors American male television actors Television producers from Massachusetts American television writers American male television writers Boston College alumni Fordham University School of Law alumni Living people Male actors from Boston Male actors from Stockholm Massachusetts lawyers New York (state) lawyers People from Burlington, Massachusetts Stockholm University alumni Showrunners Writers from Boston American expatriates in Sweden Screenwriters from Massachusetts People from Greenwich Village