Paul Dinello | |
|---|---|
 Dinello in 2007 | |
| Born | Paul E. Dinello (1962-11-28)November 28, 1962 (age 62) Oak Park, Illinois, U.S. |
| Education | DePaul University (BA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Spouse | |
| Partner | Amy Sedaris (1987–1995) |
| Children | 2 |
Paul E. Dinello (born November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, actor, and writer, best known for his collaborations withStephen Colbert andAmy Sedaris.[1] His accolades include fivePrimetime Emmy Awards, threePGA Awards, and twoWGA Awards.
With Colbert and Sedaris, he co-created forComedy Central the sketch comedy seriesExit 57 (1995–1996) and the dark comedyStrangers with Candy (1999–2000), where he portrayed Geoffrey Jellineck. In 2003, they also wrote the satirical bookWigfield. In 2005, Dinello became a writer and supervising producer forThe Colbert Report and thenThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[2] In 2017, he co-created thetruTV craft-oriented comedyAt Home with Amy Sedaris, which ran for three seasons, until it was cancelled in 2021.
Dinello was born in Oak Park, Illinois to Frank Anthony Dinello, the head ofDePaul University's Mental Health Clinic, and Ann Lee Dinello (née Zeiler). He is the fourth of five siblings: Donna, Lori, Linda and David.[3][4][5] He has said he had an "average middle class midwestern upbringing".[6] His uncle Dan Dinello, who piqued his interest in directing, is an independent filmmaker and professor emeritus atColumbia College Chicago.[7][8][9]
Dinello attendedOak Park River Forest High School[10] and during that time used to get in trouble a lot: "I didn't do things to be mean, I did things to amuse people and they turned out to be rotten", he has said, recalling an incident where he blew up fireworks in the student center.[11] After graduating, he enrolled inDePaul University, where he majored in Communications and English, while also taking film classes. Dinello did not particularly enjoy his major: "I knew that I was learning stuff I didn't have any interest in. It was good I'd say for winnowing out the things that I didn't want to do. It made it abundantly clear that I didn't want to have anything to do with Communications."[11] He graduated from DePaul's College of Communications in 1985.[1] Dinello worked atAllstate for a year, but quit to dostand-up. To support himself he worked as acabbie and sold newspapers and office art.[6]
After college, Dinello attended an improv class atThe Players Workshop. The first activity required him to close his eyes and find a partner, he was paired withGreg Hollimon. Dinello recalled, "We were told, “Get to know your partner, rub noses.” We were rubbing noses and I open my eyes and it's Greg-- you know he's a six-foot-six bald black man. And I was like “Aah I'm quittin.” After that things got better." Along with two other classmates, they later formed an improv group called, The Yardstick Boys, and would often perform around Chicago "for beer money".[11][12] He had also attended theImprov Institute andAnnoyance Theatre.[13]
After seeing a show atThe Second City, he decided to take classes there and after a while was asked to audition.[11] In the late 1980s, he was hired to perform with Second City's touring company. It was there where he metAmy Sedaris andStephen Colbert with whom he often collaborated later in his career. By their retelling, the three comedians did not get along at first – Dinello thought Colbert was uptight, pretentious and cold, while Colbert thought of Dinello as "a semi-literate thug"[14] – but the trio became close friends while touring together, discovering that they shared a similar comic sensibility.[15] In 2003, Second City senior associate producer Beth Kligerman called him "the most handsome person to come out of 43 years of Second City."[16] Dinello and Sedaris moved to New York City to star alongsideMitch Rouse and Becky Thyre inStitches, a play written by Sedaris and her brotherDavid, which premiered atLa MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in 1994.[15][17]
When he and Sedaris were offered the opportunity to create a television series forHBO Downtown Productions, Colbert left The Second City and moved to New York to work with them on the sketch comedy showExit 57.[15] The series debuted onComedy Central in 1995 and aired through 1996. Although it lasted for only 12 episodes, the show received favorable reviews[18][19] and was nominated for fiveCableACE Awards in 1995, in categories including best writing, performance, and comedy series.[20]
A few years later, Dinello worked again with Sedaris and Colbert to developStrangers with Candy. Comedy Central picked up the series in 1998.[15]Strangers with Candy was conceived of as a parody ofafter school specials, following the life ofJerri Blank, a 46-year-old dropout who returns to finish high school after 32 years of life on the street. Most noted by critics for its use of offensive humor, it concluded each episode by delivering to the audience a skewed, politically incorrect moral lesson.[21] Dinello served as a main writer with Sedaris and Colbert, and portrayed Jerri's naïve and self-centered art teacher,Geoffrey Jellineck, seen throughout the series not actually teaching anything to his classes. Dinello took inspiration for his character from a teacher he used to have in high school. Thirty episodes ofStrangers with Candy were made, which aired on Comedy Central in 1999 and 2000. Though its ratings were not remarkable during its initial run, it has been characterized as a cult show with a small but dedicated audience.[22] After the show ended, Dinello, Colbert andDavid Pasquesi penned "Trifecta", a comedy script that was bought byArtisan Entertainment. The film was intended to be directed by Dinello and star Colbert, Pasquesi, Sedaris and himself, but it did not come out of the development stage, as Dinello realized he did not like the script.[23][24][11]
Dinello reprised his role of Geoffrey Jellineck for afilm adaptation, which premiered at theSundance Film Festival in 2005 and had a limited release in 2006. The film received mixed reviews. Dinello directed and produced the film as well as co-wrote the screenplay with Sedaris and Colbert.[25][26]
In 2003, Dinello co-wrote the novelWigfield with Sedaris and Colbert, which they promoted by creating a traveling play.[27] First pitched toHyperion as achildren's book about aworm searching for his identity. It later became a satirical story about a journalist, reporting on a small town on the verge of disappearing."[16]
Since 2005 until the show's end in 2014, Dinello worked as a writer and supervising producer forThe Colbert Report. He made some appearances asTad, the building manager. The character often is berated by Colbert, who forces him to do dangerous things.[28] In 2006 he helped Colbert with his speech at theWhite House Correspondents' Dinner, and together they revised it the night before the event. Of the speech's reception he commented: "I think that context gave it more weight than was intended. Had the president gone 'ha, ha, ha!' and slapped his knee and everyone laughed, I don't think there would be a lot of discussion about it."[29] He also co-wrote alongside Colbert and other Report members, the bookI Am America (And So Can You!) (2007), and its sequel,America Again (2012).[30] He edited the audio version of the former.[31]
In 2008, Dinello directed theNickelodeon original movieGym Teacher: The Movie, starringChristopher Meloni and Sedaris.[32] That same year he had a bit part onMichel Gondry'sBe Kind Rewind, where he plays a copyright lawyer, alongsideSigourney Weaver. Gondry asked Dinello directly to appear in the film.[11] With Sedaris, Dinello co-wroteSimple Times: Crafts for Poor People, published in 2010.[33] He can be seen with Sedaris in the "Mummified Hand" episode of theScience Channel showOddities.[34]
In 2017, he co-created the craft-oriented comedyAt Home with Amy Sedaris.[35]
In 2015, along with the rest ofThe Colbert Report crew, he moved toThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert working as a writer and supervising producer.[2] He sometimes appears on camera helping Colbert with some of the show's segments or on the cold open sketches. Dinello is one of the people Colbert checks with to assess the quality of a piece, alongsideTom Purcell,Jon Stewart, and his wife Evie. His office is on the same floor as Colbert's so they can consult with each other easily.[36]
Dinello has said his creative influences include comediansErnie Kovacs,Buster Keaton,Peter Sellers,Monty Python,The Three Stooges,Jack Lemmon;[37][38] filmmakersJean-Pierre Jeunet,Terry Gilliam,Federico Fellini,Luis Buñuel,Akira Kurosawa,Stanley Kubrick; and photographers:Diane Arbus andMary Ellen Mark.[7][38]
Dinello dated hisStrangers with Candy co-starAmy Sedaris for eight years after they met at Second City.[39]
Dinello met his wife, photographer Danielle St. Laurent, while working on the artwork for the bookSimple Times: Crafts for Poor People.[40] They married in 2011. The ceremony was officiated by his long-time friend Stephen Colbert, for whom he had served asbest man.[41] The couple has two sons. Sedaris is their godmother.[42][43]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Straight Talk | Casey | B-roll character |
| 1995–96 | Exit 57 | Various Characters | 12 episodes |
| 1999–2000 | Strangers with Candy | Geoffrey Jellineck | 29 episodes |
| 2005–2014 | The Colbert Report | Tad the Building Manager | Writer and supervising producer |
| 2005 | Strangers with Candy (movie) | Geoffrey Jellineck | Director and writer |
| 2008 | Be Kind Rewind | Mr. Rooney | |
| 2008 | Gym Teacher: The Movie | Mr. Tipple | Director |
| 2010 | Rally to Restore Sanity | - | Writer and consulting producer |
| 2015 | Difficult People | Paul | 1 episode |
| 2015– | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert | Himself/Various Characters | Writer and supervising producer |
| 2017–2021 | At Home with Amy Sedaris | Various characters | Co-creator and writer |
| 2024 | Girls5Eva | Randy | 1 episode |
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Stitches | Performer | La MaMa Experimental Theatre | [17] |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
