Gregory Wayne Abbott was born on November 13, 1957, in Wichita Falls, Texas, of English descent. His mother, Doris Lechristia Jacks Abbott, was a stay at home wife and his father, Calvin Rodger Abbott, was a stockbroker and insurance agent. When he was six years old, they moved to Longview; the family lived in the East Texas city for six years. At the beginning of junior high school, Abbott's family moved to Duncanville. In his sophomore year in high school, his father died of a heart attack; his mother went to work in a real estate office. He graduated from Duncanville High School. He was on the track team in high school. He was in the National Honor Society and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed."