He attended high school at Culver Academy in Northern Indiana.
He reconnected with his wife Karen at their 20th high school reunion. They fell in love and married at the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York. Eventually, they opened up their own real estate agency in Asheville, North Carolina, where they reside.
He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He started in show business as a performer for the comedy/improvisation group, The Groundlings in Los Angeles, California.
His mother Laura S. Utley was a chemistry teacher at Southwest High School in Fort Worth, Texas. His father, F. R. Woodard Jr., was a morning talk-show host at KQIP radio in Odessa, Texas.