The only son of William E. Litz (1917–2007) and Mary Millik Litz (1920-2016), Robert Litz was of Hungarian and Polish background. He was raised in Cleveland's Mount Pleasant neighborhood and graduated from St. Ignatius High School in 1968 with Classical Honors. He attended college at Boston University, where he began as a pre-med student only to switch later on to English and History. During his college days, he was the editor of the literary magazine and graduated magna cum laude in 1972. Afterwards Litz attended Harvard University, where he received an MTS, American Studies in 1975.[2]
After trying a career as a poet, Litz took a job as press agent for the New England Repertory Theatre, a small theater company in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he also worked as a stage and production manager. After an actor without understudy had to withdraw from a production one week before opening, the company drafted him to fill in for the actor and he eventually became part of the acting ensemble.
During the rest of the 1980s, Litz moved to New York City and began working in off-Broadway and regional theater productions. He also wrote, produced and directed movies and TV shows. He also traveled extensively through North America, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and lived briefly in Hong Kong and Cambridge, England.
