Ken Marino


Kenneth Joseph Marino is an American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He was a cast member on MTV's The State and has starred in shows such as Party Down, Marry Me, Burning Love, and Childrens Hospital.

Early life

Marino was born on Long Island, New York, to an Italian-American family. He attended West Islip High School in West Islip, New York. He then studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute and Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in New York City.
On Marino's first day at NYU, he met David Wain and Craig Wedren and quickly befriended both of them; Marino was popular in part because he had milk crates full of bottles of alcoholic beverages, and he carried the crates around with him when he visited people's dorm rooms. The next year, Wain and Marino were among the co-founders of a comedy troupe called The New Group, which eventually was renamed to The State.

Career

After college, Marino continued working and performing with The State, and in 1993 the troupe gained their own sketch comedy series on MTV, The State. The series ran until 1995. In 1997, Marino co-starred with Rob Schneider in the second season of Men Behaving Badly. He starred in the short lived series First Years in 2001. He had a recurring role as Prof. Wilder on the TV series Dawson's Creek and in You Wrote It, You Watch It. He made multiple appearances on Charmed and Rock Me Baby, and appeared in four seasons of Veronica Mars as private detective Vinnie Van Lowe. He was cast to star in a re-make of the TV series The Courtship of Eddie's Father, but the pilot was not picked up. Instead, he was cast in the Starz original series Party Down. He also starred as a gay demon on the TV series Reaper. He played Dr. Glenn Richie in the satirical television series Childrens Hospital. Marino also played Captain 'CJ' Stentley on the show Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Marino also made guest appearances in Will & Grace, Angel, Reno 911!, Stella, Grey's Anatomy, Monk, Private Practice, and Happy Endings.
Marino starred in 2004's Love for Rent. He can also be seen in a non-speaking role as the music producer/board operator in the pre-ride film that accompanies Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at Disney's Hollywood Studios. He has appeared in Wet Hot American Summer, The Ten and Role Models, and had a cameo in the end of The Baxter. He also starred in the Hallmark Channel movie Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door in 2006. In 2009, he had a cameo in an episode of Californication.
Marino wrote the screenplay for Diggers, a coming-of-age film set in mid-1970s Long Island, as well as co-writing/producing The Ten and Role Models with David Wain.
Marino and Wain wrote the screenplay for the comedy film Wanderlust, which starred Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston, and was released in 2012.
Marino starred as Mark Orlando in the Yahoo! web series Burning Love, a spoof of the TV series The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. The series was created by his wife Erica Oyama, while Marino also directed all three seasons. Afterward, Marino starred opposite Casey Wilson on the NBC sitcom Marry Me, which ran for one season from 2014 to 2015.
Marino has also directed several episodes of the sitcoms The Goldbergs, Super Fun Night, and Trophy Wife.
In 2017, Marino starred in the Netflix comedy-horror film, The Babysitter.

Personal life

Marino is married to screenwriter Erica Oyama. They have a son, Riley Ken'ichi Marino and a daughter, Ruby.

Filmography

Film

Television

Other projects