Konstantinos Pollux Alexandros "Dino" Stamatopoulos (born December 14, 1964) 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, as well as the Charlie Kaufman film Anomalisa.
He has also created multiple animated TV series 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.
Early life
Stamatopoulos attended Ridgewood High School in Norridge, Illinois.
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.
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.
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.Wright, Megh (2016-08-18). "This Week in Comedy Podcasts: 'Dino and Andy’s Skull Juice' Debuts." Vulture.com. Retrieved 2019-04-11. 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.
Personal life Stamatopoulos was married and has one daughter. He is a vocalist and guitarist in a rock band called Sorry About Everything.
Filmography Film Year Title ProducerWriterActor Role Notes 1996 Breathing Room Jersey Rocker Live-action feature film 2002 The Master of Disguise 2014 Harmontown Documentary film2015 Anomalisa Animated feature film
Television YearTitle Writer Actor Producer Creator Director Role Notes1992–1993 The Ben Stiller Show Waiter #2 Sketch comedy series1993–1999 Late Night with Conan O'Brien Tomorry the Ostrich Kiss-Ass TurkeyAbe LincolnVarious characters Late-night talk show1996 The Dana Carvey Show Guy in Nixon MaskWazir BrotherGas Station Attendant Sketch comedy series1996–1997 Late Show with David Letterman Late-night talk show 1996–1998 Mr. Show with Bob and David Various characters Sketch comedy series;Producer for 9 episodes and consulting producer for 1 episode1996–2006 Saturday Night Live Michael Jackson (voice) Sketch comedy series2000–2001 TV Funhouse ChickeyMr. WhiskersVarious characters2002–2004 Mad TV 2004–2005 Tom Goes to the Mayor Animated series;Also creative consultant2005–2008 Moral Orel Various characters Animated series 2006 Lucky Louie TV sitcom 2007–2009 The Drinky Crow Show Drinky Crow, Lieutenant Vronchy Animated series 2009 Important Things with Demetri Martin Sketch comedy series 2009–2015 Community Alex "Star-Burns" Osbourne TV sitcom;Also consulting writer for 24 episodes 2010–2012 Mary Shelley's Frankenhole DeathThe MummyMother TeresaAdditional voicesAnimated series 2013 High School USA! Mr. Merriweather2015 The Jack and Triumph Show TV sitcom W/ Bob & David Chuck Sketch comedy series2016 Horace and Pete Web series Great Minds with Dan Harmon Comedy series;Also consulting producer for 10 episodes 2021 The Black Hole Various roles Unaired animated pilot
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