American psychologist and TV personality known as Dr. Phil. With a practice in Wichita Falls, he and a friend co-founded Courtroom Sciences, Inc. in 1989, a jury-consulting business that worked with lawyers to develop trial strategies. He met Oprah Winfrey in Texas in the late 1990s after she had been sued for libel by a cattle breeders’ association. While under the stress of the trial, she consulted McGraw who helped her successfully fight the attack. Impressed by his strategic approach and non-nonsense manner, she introduced him on her show, and his audience appeal led to regular appearances beginning in April 1998. His direct, blunt, practical advice was wildly popular. Author of several books, he began hosting his own nationally syndicated TV help show in the fall of 2002.
McGraw was one of four children and the only son of a salesman ad his wife. The family moved often in McGraw’s youth, following his father’s sales jobs, and there were lean times of unemployment. His father became a commercial pilot and later, at age 40, became a psychologist. Young Phil went to college on a football college. There he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees in psychology, ultimately obtaining his doctorate, from North Texas State University.
Dr. Phil’s work now combines “entertainment with enlightenment” in his syndicated show that reaches millions of viewers. In his show, McGraw hammers home advice to “get real”; that is, grow up, take responsibility and make smart choices. In addition to his focus on the relationship and family problems of his guests and viewers, McGraw has tackled pervasive societal issues like obesity, drugs and abuse. He is a consummate businessman and charismatic media star, and his self-help empire has expanded to include weight-loss programs and dietary supplements, books, advice columns including one in Oprah’s magazine, tapes and transcripts of his shows, even T-shirts and mugs!
In 2004 a biography of Phillip McGraw was published, written by Sophia Dembling and Lisa Gutierrez. The authors do not always paint a flattering portrait of the self-help guru, implying that he can be an egotistic bully who never mentions his failed first marriage and who overstates his early accomplishments and athletic prowess on the football field. Nevertheless, he is a successful man with a long-time marriage of over 25 years to his second wife Robin. He and Robin have two sons, one of whom at least seems to be following in his father’s very large footsteps.
McGraw’s empire expanded on the heels of his successful TV show where he doles out tough advice to people willing to share their pain with TV audiences. He branched out into weight loss, advocating diet plans for the obese. On September 15, 2006 he reached a settlement with CSA Nutraeuticals for $10.5 million. He class action suit alleged that he falsely claimed the company’s diet products would lead to weight-loss.
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