Ken Marino

Kenneth Joseph Marino was born on December 19, 1968, on Long Island, New York, into an Italian-American family. He attended West Islip High School in West Islip, New York, before pursuing studies at both the Lee Strasberg Institute and the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in New York City. On his first day at NYU, Marino met David Wain and Craig Wedren, and the three became close friends. The following year, Marino and Wain were among the co-founders of a comedy troupe initially called The New Group, which was later renamed The State.

Marino's professional career began in New York theater, and in 1992 he appeared on Broadway in A Few Good Men. That same year, he and several other members of The State began appearing on the MTV sketch comedy series You Wrote It, You Watch It, hosted by Jon Stewart, a run that continued into 1993. Later in 1993, the full troupe launched their own MTV sketch comedy series, The State, which ran until 1995.

Following his television work with The State, Marino built an extensive screen career across both film and television. In 1997, he co-starred with Rob Schneider in the second season of Men Behaving Badly. He starred in the short-lived series First Years in 2001 and held a recurring role as Professor Wilder on Dawson's Creek from 2001 to 2002. He appeared in four seasons of Veronica Mars as private detective Vinnie Van Lowe, and took on the role of Dr. Glenn Richie in the satirical series Childrens Hospital. Additional television credits include a recurring role as Captain CJ Stentley on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a gay demon on Reaper, and the Lehman brothers on the Showtime series Black Monday. From 2019 to 2023, he starred as music manager Streeter in the HBO comedy series The Other Two. He also appeared in the second season of Marvel's Agent Carter as mobster Joseph Manfredi.

Marino is perhaps most widely recognized for his role as Victor in the 2001 cult comedy film Wet Hot American Summer, directed by David Wain, a character he reprised in the film's subsequent spin-offs. He starred in the Starz original series Party Down, which earned a devoted following, and later appeared opposite Casey Wilson in the NBC sitcom Marry Me, which ran for one season from 2014 to 2015. He starred as Mark Orlando in the Yahoo! web series Burning Love, a spoof of The Bachelor franchise, directing all three seasons of the show, which was created by his wife, screenwriter Erica Oyama. In 2017, Marino played Mr. Johnson in the Netflix comedy-horror film The Babysitter, a role he reprised in the sequel The Babysitter: Killer Queen.

Behind the camera, Marino has contributed substantially as a writer and director. He wrote the screenplay for Diggers, a 2006 coming-of-age film set on mid-1970s Long Island. Alongside David Wain, he wrote and produced The Ten (2007), Role Models (2008), and Wanderlust (2012), all directed by Wain, with Marino also taking small acting roles in each. He has directed episodes of several television series, including The Goldbergs, Super Fun Night, Childrens Hospital, and Trophy Wife.

Marino is married to screenwriter Erica Oyama, and the couple have two children. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, he has served as lead vocalist for the Middle Aged Dad Jam Band, a group he formed alongside David Wain.