Francis Gress, Jr. was born in Brooklyn, NY. As an infant his father called him "his goo-goo baby" this became Googy. As he was raised in Connecticut - where there is a state law that you must have a stupid nickname - his stuck.
After high school, Googy attended the University of Southern California, where he earned a BFA. He then moved to New York to begin his career. While there he studied with Warren Robertson. He earned his SAG card in 1981 doing a PSA for the Social Security Administration. Soon after he was cast in The Flamingo Kid, he still counts many of the people he met on that film, in particular, Brian McNamara, Matt Dillon, and Fisher Stevens, as some of his dearest friends.
By the mid 80's he had returned to L.A. and he has worked steadily since. A true highlight of his many years in L.A. was doing Apollo 13 as it brought with it one of his most cherished rituals, his Thursday lunches with his "Apollo Girlfriends" - Christian Clemenson, Wayne Duvall, Chris Ellis, Andy Milder, and John Short, all of whom were Mission Control specialists in the film.
Googy is married to the love of his life, the actress and writer, Clarinda Ross, and they live with their three kids, Clara, Frank, and Gus in Los Angeles.
