"The face that launched a thousand chips," Wally Amos is the father of the gourmet cookie industry. As inventor of "Famous Amos" cookies, his story is the quintessential American success story.

The "Famous Amos" cookie tale began when the talent agent began using his bite-sized cookies as calling cards. At the urging of his friends and clients, he launched the Famous Amos Cookie Company in 1975 with a Sunset Boulevard storefront in Hollywood. The business grew and in 1985, Famous Amos cookies were a $10 million business. Great products are not built on great taste alone, and Famous Amos' success is as much due to Wally's infectious enthusiasm and tireless promoting as it is to the cookies' delicious taste.

While he left the brand after it changed hands several times between 1985 and 1998, he never lost his entrepreneurial zeal or passion for baking and promoting. His most recent venture is Long Island-based Uncle Wally's Cookie Company, which specialized in muffins. And in a deal with Famous Amos brand's new parent, Keebler Company, he is once again promoting his namesake brand.

Wally Amos was born in Tallahassee, Florida and lived there with his father and mother until he was twelve. Then, he went to live with his Aunt Della, who first baked chocolate chip cookies for him, in her Manhattan apartment. As a senior at Food Trades Vocational High School, Wally dropped out to join the Air Force. In the Air Force, he earned his GED High School Equivalency Diploma. That certificate helped change his life. The GED Diploma made him eligible to train at a New York secretarial school after he was honorably discharged from the Air Force.

Amos was a theatrical agent at the William Morris Agency, where he worked with Simon & Garfunkel, the Supremes and many more musical acts.

Over the years, Amos has acted in a number of network sitcoms and appeared on hundreds of interview shows and news programs. He is TV teacher/host of 50 episodes of state-of-the-art programs for adult basic learners that air on PBS stations nationally. He has acted as product spokesman for several prominent corporations, including Hush Puppies, United Airlines and the California Egg Board.

In addition to his business, Amos devotes a great deal of time and passion for literacy causes, serving as national spokesman for the Literacy Volunteers of America and acting as a board member for the National Center for Family Literacy and Communities in Schools.

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