Paul E. Dinello (born November 28, 1962) is an American comedian. He
portrayed Geoffrey Jellineck on Comedy Central's Strangers with Candy,
and later became a writer and supervising producer for The Colbert
Report and then The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.Dinello was born in
Oak Park, Illinois to Frank Anthony Dinello, the head of DePaul
University's Mental Health Clinic, and Ann Lee Dinello (née Zeiler).
He's the fourth of five siblings: Donna, Lori, Linda and David. His
uncle Dan Dinello, who piqued his interest in directing, is an
independent filmmaker and professor emeritus at Columbia College
Chicago.Dinello graduated from Oak Park River Forest High School and
later attended DePaul University where he graduated from its College
of Communications in 1985. He is also an alumnus of Chicago-based The
Second City, Improv Institute, and Annoyance Theatre.In the late
1980s, he was hired to perform with Second City's touring company. It
was there where he met Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert with whom he
often collaborated later in his career. By their retelling, the three
comedians did not get along at first â€" Dinello thought Colbert was
uptight, pretentious and cold, while Colbert thought of Dinello as "an
illiterate thug" â€" but the trio became close friends while touring
together, discovering that they shared a similar comic sensibility.
portrayed Geoffrey Jellineck on Comedy Central's Strangers with Candy,
and later became a writer and supervising producer for The Colbert
Report and then The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.Dinello was born in
Oak Park, Illinois to Frank Anthony Dinello, the head of DePaul
University's Mental Health Clinic, and Ann Lee Dinello (née Zeiler).
He's the fourth of five siblings: Donna, Lori, Linda and David. His
uncle Dan Dinello, who piqued his interest in directing, is an
independent filmmaker and professor emeritus at Columbia College
Chicago.Dinello graduated from Oak Park River Forest High School and
later attended DePaul University where he graduated from its College
of Communications in 1985. He is also an alumnus of Chicago-based The
Second City, Improv Institute, and Annoyance Theatre.In the late
1980s, he was hired to perform with Second City's touring company. It
was there where he met Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert with whom he
often collaborated later in his career. By their retelling, the three
comedians did not get along at first â€" Dinello thought Colbert was
uptight, pretentious and cold, while Colbert thought of Dinello as "an
illiterate thug" â€" but the trio became close friends while touring
together, discovering that they shared a similar comic sensibility.
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