At a lofty 6 foot 6, openly gay Scrubs producer Randall Winston says, “Being [that tall] is my revenge for being stuffed in the laundry hamper as a kid.” The youngest child in a family from Harvey, Ill., Winston packed up his car after graduating from Ohio University in 1989, and set his sights on Hollywood.

His story of breaking into show business is one that has been told many times. “I packed up my Volkswagen and came out here like everybody else,” he says. “I went door to door with resumes, snuck onto lots, and got a P.A. job that led to another P.A. job, and on and on and on.”

Those personal assisting jobs eventually led to producing jobs on shows such as ABC's Champs and Spin City, then to NBC's 6-year-old comedy Scrubs.

“I always say that this is the best job I never wanted,” Winston says in his gentle-giant voice. “I really early in my career didn't want this job, but I found such joy in it. And I love coming to work in the morning. I love that there is an aspect about it that allows me ‘to pull up rather than push down,' as my mother used to say. I get to help creative people realize stories, and I get to have input on that.”

After moving to Hollywood, the Midwesterner roomed together with several other fledgling hopefuls, one being Bill Lawrence, the creator of the Emmy-nominated Scrubs and Spin City. Their close friendship, which spans nearly two decades, defies all stereotypes. It even served as inspiration for two of Lawrence's more colorful male duos on his shows: Stuart Bondek (Alan Ruck) and Carter Heywood (Michael Boatman) from Spin City, and J.D. Dorian (Zach Braff) and Chris Turk (Donald Faison) from Scrubs.

When it comes to comparisons between their friendship and the one between J.D. and Turk, Winston says, “I think that there are definite colors of our relationship that I see in J.D. and Turk. You know, not just because [of] the fact that one is white and one is black. But because of that instant communication they have with one another.”

Winston continues: “I think that in any given week, Bill and I would probably joke about our significant other. The ‘other' one in my life [would be] Bill, and for Bill it [would be] me. We have a great shorthand with each other. It makes it so easy and nice. I think we have our passive-aggressive moments, though.”

Bill Lawrence says that meeting Winston did wonderful things for his dating life. “What is so great about it was, I was a single guy in Manhattan when we were doing Spin City, and [I was] very socially awkward,” Lawrence says. “So … I would go out with Randall in New York, and as a straight single guy, he was the best wingman I ever had in my life. To have this guy — he's 6'6”, shaved head, dark-dark, striking black guy who could not be more handsome or personable.”

Lawrence credits Winston for getting him his lovely wife, actress Christina Miller Lawrence. “My wife is from the Upper East Side, and I use to dress like a frat boy from the 80s!” Lawrence admits. “The first day I met my wife was the first day I was wearing a swanky suit. Randall took me to Macy's in New York and said, ‘You're going to a business thing and you look ridiculous.' He made me sit there while he brought over stuff I tried on. My wife always credits Randall. [She says] she wouldn't be interested in me if I wore what I always wear.”

Winston currently resides in Los Angeles with his partner of eight years, Michael Keenan, a writer with the New York Times.

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