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Dino Stamatopoulos

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Dino Stamatopoulos
Stamatopoulos in 2016
Stamatopoulos in 2016
BornKonstantinos Pollux Alexandros Stamatopoulos
(1964-12-14) December 14, 1964 (age 59)
Norridge, Illinois, United States
OccupationWriter, producer, actor
Period1992–present
GenreSatire, black comedy
Notable worksLate Night with Conan O'Brien
The Ben Stiller Show
Mr. Show
TV Funhouse
Mad TV
Moral Orel
The Drinky Crow Show
Mary Shelley's Frankenhole
High School USA!
Community
Notable awardsEmmy Awards
Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program
1993 The Ben Stiller Show
Children1

Konstantinos Pollux Alexandros "Dino" Stamatopoulos (born December 14, 1964)[1] is an American writer, producer, and actor. He has worked on TV programs such as Mr. Show, TV Funhouse, Mad TV, The Dana Carvey Show, Late Show with David Letterman, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He has also created multiple animated TV shows such as Moral Orel, Mary Shelley's Frankenhole, and High School USA!. As an actor, he is best known for his recurring role as the character Alex "Star-Burns" Osbourne on the NBC comedy series Community, on which he also worked as a producer and consulting writer.

Early life

Stamatopoulos was born into a Greek-American family in Norridge, Illinois as Konstantinos Pollux Alexandros Stamatopoulos. [1] He attended Ridgewood High School in Norridge,[2] where he wrote for his school variety show and was astounded that he could get laughs with the material he had written. While attending Columbia College Chicago, he performed a duo act with comedian Andy Dick, in which Stamatopoulos played a ventriloquist and Dick played a dummy under the influence of sleeping pills.[citation needed]

Career

Stamatopoulos was hired on The Ben Stiller Show after Andy Dick convinced him to submit a spec script for a Simpsons episode. There, he met and worked with Bob Odenkirk. After Stiller's show was canceled, he moved to New York City, where he wrote during the 1990s for The Dana Carvey Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien (also with Odenkirk), Late Show with David Letterman, and Mr. Show with Bob and David.

In 2000 Stamatopoulos and Robert Smigel pitched Comedy Central a spin-off of Smigel's TV Funhouse cartoons (which were appearing singly as animated shorts on Saturday Night Live episodes) as a half-hour sketch comedy show. The standalone TV Funhouse show premiered in 2000 but was canceled after one season. He later joined the writing staff on Mad TV.

Stamatopoulos worked as a creative consultant and contributing writer on the first season of Tom Goes to the Mayor, with Tim & Eric and Bob Odenkirk. He also provided the voice of Drinky Crow on The Drinky Crow Show, which aired for one season on Adult Swim. His stop motion animated series Moral Orel premiered on Adult Swim on Christmas 2005 and aired for three seasons, airing its final episode in December 2008; a follow-up special aired in 2012. Following Moral Orel, Stamatopoulos created Mary Shelley's Frankenhole, a stop motion series, for Adult Swim. It ran for two seasons from 2010 to 2012.[3]

Stamatopoulos was a writer and producer on the 2009 NBC sitcom Community. He also played the recurring role of Alex "Star-Burns" Osbourne, a character whose nickname derived from his large star-shaped sideburns and his tendency to define himself by them. Together with Community creator Dan Harmon, Stamatopoulos started production company Starburns Industries.

A long-time fan of radio personality Steve Dahl, Stamatopoulos hosted a podcast, Sorry About Everything, from May 2012 until June 2013 on Dahl's Steve Dahl Network.[4]

Stamatopoulos and friend Andy Dick hosted a weekly podcast, Dino and Andy's Skull Juice, which premiered in late 2016 and was initially produced by Feral Audio.[5] Due to an on-air incident of hostility in mid-2018, Dick was asked to leave the podcast[citation needed]. Stamatopoulos asked friend and recurring guest Dana Snyder to replace Dick as co-host, and the podcast was renamed Dino & Dana's Safe Space. Additional co-hosts Laetitia "Tish" Burns and Spencer Crittenden were also given billing in the podcast.[6]

Personal life

Stamatopoulos was married and has one daughter.[2] He is a vocalist and guitarist in a rock band called Sorry About Everything.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Producer Writer Actor Role Notes
1996 Breathing Room No No Yes Jersey Rocker Live-action feature film
2002 The Master of Disguise Co-producer No No
2014 Harmontown Executive No No Documentary film
2015 Anomalisa Yes No No Animated feature film
2021 The Black Hole Executive Yes Yes Voice actor Short film

Television

Year Title Writer Actor Producer Creator Director Role Notes
1992–1993 The Ben Stiller Show Yes (12) Yes (1) No No No Waiter #2 Sketch Comedy series
1993–1999 Late Night with Conan O'Brien Yes (540) Yes (2) No No No Tomorry the Ostrich
Kiss-Ass Turkey
Abe Lincoln
Various characters
Late night talk show
1996 The Dana Carvey Show Yes Yes (3) No No No Guy in Nixon Mask
Wazir Brother
Gas Station Attendant
Sketch Comedy Series
1996–1997 Late Show with David Letterman Yes (131) No No No No Late Night Talk Show
1996–1998 Mr. Show with Bob and David Yes (21) Yes (13) Yes (10) No No Various characters Sketch Comedy Series;

Also producer for 9 episodes and consulting producer for 1 episode

1996–2006 Saturday Night Live Yes (1) Yes (4) No No No Michael Jackson (voice) Sketch Comedy series
2000–2001 TV Funhouse Yes Yes Yes No No Chickey
Mr. Whiskers
Various characters
2002–2004 Mad TV Yes (50) No No No No
2004–2005 Tom Goes to the Mayor Yes No No No No Animated series;

Also creative consultant

2005–2008 Moral Orel Yes (37) Yes Yes Yes Yes (8) Various characters Animated series
2006 Lucky Louie Yes (1) No No No No TV Sitcom
2008-2009 The Drinky Crow Show No Yes No No No Drinky Crow, Lieutenant Vronchy Animated series
2009 Important Things with Demetri Martin Yes (1) No No No No Sketch Comedy series
2009–2015 Community Yes (2) Yes (39) Consulting producer (37) No No Alex "Star-Burns" Osbourne TV Sitcom;

Also consulting writer for 24 episodes

2010–2017 Mary Shelley's Frankenhole Yes (9) Yes Yes Yes No Death
The Mummy
Mother Teresa
Additional voices
Animated series
2013 High School USA! Yes Yes Yes (10) Yes No Mr. Merriweather
2015 The Jack and Triumph Show Yes (1) No Yes (5) No No TV Sitcom
W/ Bob & David Yes (4) Yes (1) Co-executive producer (5) No No Chuck Sketch Comedy Series
2016 Horace and Pete No No Co-executive producer No No Web series
Great Minds with Dan Harmon No No Yes (1) No No Comedy series;

Also consulting producer for 10 episodes

References

  1. ^ a b "Dino Stamatopoulos Net Worth". net-worths.org. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Dino Stamatopoulos". NNDB.com. Soylent Communications. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  3. ^ McCarthy, Scott L. (November 2, 2009). "The Comic's Comic interviews Scott Adsit". Thecomicscomic.typepad.com. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  4. ^ "It's here, the first "Sorry About Everything Podcast" with Dino Stamatopoulos". Dahl.com. Steve Dahl Network. May 31, 2012. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  5. ^ Wright, Megh (2016-08-18). "This Week in Comedy Podcasts: 'Dino and Andy’s Skull Juice' Debuts." Vulture.com. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
  6. ^ Link to SAFE SPACE Podcast site