Background and career
Phillip Calvin McGraw (born September 1, 1950), better known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality and author who hosted the talk show Dr. Phil from 2002 to 2023. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, though he ceased renewing his license to practice psychology in 2006.
McGraw frequently appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the late 1990s. Oprah Winfrey then helped McGraw launch his own advice show, Dr. Phil, in September 2002.
Phillip Calvin McGraw was born in Vinita, Oklahoma, on September 1, 1950, the son of Joseph J. McGraw Jr. (1924–1993) and his wife Anne Geraldine "Jerry" (née Stevens; 1924–2011). He grew up with two older sisters, Deana and Donna, and younger sister Brenda in the oilfields of North Texas where his father was an equipment supplier. At age 13, he worked at an A&W Root Beer stand and a local chain called Pizza Planet in Oklahoma City.
McGraw moved to Kansas with his father, who pursued his lifelong goal of becoming a psychologist. There, Phil attended Shawnee Mission North High School in Overland Park, Kansas. He played linebacker on the high school football team and, in 1968, earned a football scholarship to the University of Tulsa where he played middle linebacker under coach Glenn Dobbs.
He later transferred to Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he graduated in 1975 with a B.A. in psychology. He went on to earn an M.A. in experimental psychology in 1976 and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 1979, both at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas), where his dissertation was titled "Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Psychological Intervention." He did a year of post-doctoral training in forensic psychology at the Wilmington Institute. McGraw's doctoral advisor was Frank Lawlis, who later became the primary contributing psychologist for the Dr. Phil television show.
How Phil McGraw makes money
It was a total rip-off because the customers would still be liable for the contract payments, only now to the financial institution." McGraw was sued by several Topeka banks for $41,000 they claimed he owed, but the lawsuits and investigation stalled when he left the state. In October 1991, six years after joining Box, the younger McGraw sold his share in the company for $325,000. The deal was to pay McGraw $15 million per year and keep the show in production through the 2013–2014 television season.
