Life and Career
Shriner was born in New York City, New York, the twin brother of soap opera actor Kin Shriner and the son of Eileen “Pixie” McDermott and Herb Shriner, a Hoosier humorist who had several shows in the early days of television, including Two for the Money and The Herb Shriner Show. Wil made his first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and then went on to be a regular on the NBC morning show The David Letterman Show. For one season in the 1980s (1987–88), he hosted The Wil Shriner Show, a nationally-syndicated Group W television talk show. TV Guide described the program as "a daily variety-talk show featuring celebrity guests, segments on health and fitness, and interviews with authors and experts."
He also hosted two game shows, the American version of That's My Dog (replacing Steve Skrovan) from 1993 until its cancellation in 1995 and Small Talk. During the early 1990s, he also hosted a weekly syndicated series about amateur and well-known inventors called Why Didn't I Think of That?, which ran for two years. He also hosted the Miss Teen USA 1989 pageant. He spent four years as a correspondent and guest host on the ABC network morning show Home Show.
In a 1990 episode of the television show Designing Women, Suzanne Sugarbaker (Delta Burke) references Wil Shriner as being the emcee for the 1976 Miss Georgia pageant.
He began directing sitcoms in 2000 with his start at Frasier, and Becker to Everybody Loves Raymond. He also did episodes of Raising Dad, My Wife and Kids, Norm, Married to the Kellys, Luis, Ladies Man, Two Guys and A Girl, and Living With Fran.
In 2006, he wrote the screenplay and directed the feature film Hoot which was released by New Line Cinema on over 3000 screens. The family film came out on DVD in August 2007 and continues to entertain kids with the beauty of Florida and the message of stepping up when they see wrongdoing. Hoot was recently added to the film collection of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.
He directed an episode of The Gilmore Girls on the CW.
He continues to do stand-up comedy around the country and in the corporate arena while working on his next film project.
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