Dino Stamatopoulos
Konstantinos Pollux Alexandros "Dino" Stamatopoulos 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, a consulting writer, and wrote two animated episodes.
Dino Stamatopoulos | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Stamatopoulos in 2016 | |
| Born | Konstantinos Pollux Alexandros Stamatopoulos Norridge, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer, producer, actor |
| Period | 1992–present |
| Genre | Satire, black comedy |
| Notable works | Late 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 awards | Emmy Awards Outstanding Writing for a Variety or Music Program 1993 The Ben Stiller Show |
| Children | 1 |
Early life
Stamatopoulos attended Ridgewood High School in Norridge.[1]
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.[2]
Stamatopoulos was a writer, consulting writer, producer and actor on the 2009 NBC sitcom Community. He wrote two animated episodes for the series, "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" (2010) and "G.I. Jeff" (2014). He played the recurring role of Alex "Star-Burns" Osbourne, a character whose nickname derived from his large star-shaped sideburns. 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.[3]
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.[4] Due to an on-air incident of hostility in mid-2018, Dick was asked to leave the podcast. 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.[5]
Personal life
Stamatopoulos was married and has one daughter.[1] 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 | Various | 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 |
| 2010–2012 | 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
- "Dino Stamatopoulos". NNDB.com. Soylent Communications. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
- McCarthy, Scott L. (November 2, 2009). "The Comic's Comic interviews Scott Adsit". Thecomicscomic.typepad.com. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
- "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.
- Wright, Megh (2016-08-18). "This Week in Comedy Podcasts: 'Dino and Andy’s Skull Juice' Debuts." Vulture.com. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
- "Dino & Dana's Safe Space". starburns.audio. Archived from the original on April 6, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2018.