Cyrus Nowrasteh was born in Boulder, Colorado, and grew up in Madison, Wisconsin.

He attended New Mexico State University on a tennis scholarship but later transferred to U.S.C. to study in their renowned School of Cinema.

While teaching tennis in Los Angeles, he wrote screenplays. His first break came in 1983 when he was hired by Universal Studios to do a rewrite on a project entitled "Bikers." Mr. Nowrasteh says this first job was a disaster because he tried "to please everybody."

“I don’t sit down and sort of list things I want people to take away from what I think I’m trying to say in a film. I’ve never done that in my entire career. For me, it’s all about the story: Is it a story that touches me? Is it a movie that I want to see? Is there an emotional connection for me? That’s all I want from a story.”

Two years later he wrote his first produced script for the CBS TV series "The Equalizer" (1985), which led him to work predominantly in series television for the next five years. He also wrote scripts on assignment for various producers and studios, the best regarded being "Black Jack" and "Murder At Nha Trang" for Interscope Productions.

His move into directing began on the independent front with "Norma Jean, Jack, And Me," a zany comedy about a young drifter who washes up on an island and discovers that Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy are alive and well! It starred Sally Kirkland and Michael Murphy and became a festival favorite throughout the world.

Cyrus Nowrasteh recently wrote and directed the Paramount/Showtime production The Day Reagan Was Shot (2001) (TV), which starred Richard Dreyfuss. Produced by Oliver Stone, The Day Reagan Was Shot (2001) (TV) received rave reviews and a number of awards including the Pen USA West Literary Award for Best Teleplay 2001-2002.

Presently, he is developing a four-hour mini-series on John Dillinger for the USA network which Mr. Nowrasteh will write and direct. Also as writer/director, Mr. Nowrasteh is developing "3rd Down" and "Forever" with Chris Columbus' 1492 productions.

Some of his other writing credits include Showtime's 10,000 Black Men Named George (2002) (TV)(a dramatization of Black activist A. Philip Randolph's struggles in leading the Pullman Strike), the independent 1996 Sundance hit, "The Interview," Nikita(1997)_, the pilot for the hit USA Network series, _La Femme Nikita_, and the adaptation of 'Alan Dershowitz'' novel, The Advocate's Devil (1997) (TV) for ABC. Nowrasteh has also received numerous credits as a writer/producer on such television series as "The Equalizer" (1985), and D.E.A.

As a screenwriter, he is writing "Juarez" for Warner Brothers and Robert Lawrence Productions, "Andrews' Raiders" for Kennedy/Marshall and Universal, and "Personal Injuries" for Punch Productions and 'Dustin Hoffman'. His wife, Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh, is a screenwriter.