Ted Sarandos

Sarandos was born in Phoenix, Arizona. His father was Ted Sarandos Sr, an electrician, and his mother was a stay-at-home mom. He is the fourth of five children, with three older sisters and a younger brother. Sarandos' paternal grandfather came from the Greek island of Samos to the United States as a young boy. His grandfather's family name was originally Kariotakis but he changed it to Sarandos.
As a child, Sarandos spent hours watching TV shows like I Love Lucy, The Jack Benny Program and The Andy Griffith Show. He stated that his family did not travel much "so the way to see the world was through books and movies and television." In his teens, he developed a knowledge of film and TV, and strong instincts for what people liked while working at a video store. While writing for his high school newspaper, Sarandos met and interviewed the actor Ed Asner, who was in Phoenix for a local Scre…