Flanigan was born Joseph Dunnigan III in Los Angeles. He has said that his mother, Nancy, left his father soon after he was born and that his surname was changed to Flanigan after he was adopted by his stepfather, business executive John Flanigan. When he was six years old, his family moved to a small ranch near Reno, Nevada.
From the age of 14, Flanigan attended a boarding school in Ojai, California, where he appeared in the school production of A Streetcar Named Desire. He later earned a history degree at the University of Colorado where he appeared in the play Coriolanus. On the advice of a friend, he took acting classes to overcome his shyness but did not plan to pursue a career in acting. As part of the Junior Year Abroad program, Flanigan spent a year studying at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he learned French.
After graduation, he pursued a writing career. He worked on Capitol Hill on President George H. W. Bush's advance team. and then briefly for several New York City publications, including Town & Country and Interview magazine. On the advice of some of his friends, he studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse, was coached by Gerald Gordon, and then moved back to Los Angeles in 1994 to pursue an acting career.

Return to Joe Flanigan Autograph Profile