Dino Stamatopoulos

Dino Stamatopoulos
Stamatopoulos at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	Konstantinos Stamatopoulos (1964-12-14) December 14, 1964 Norridge, Illinois
Occupation	Writer Producer
Nationality	American
Genre	Comedy 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

Konstantinos "Dino" Stamatopoulos (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Σταματόπουλος) is an American television comedy writer, actor and producer who 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, Stamatopoulos is best known for his recurring role as the character "Star-Burns" on the NBC comedy series Community, and he also works behind the scenes as a producer and consulting writer.

Career

While at Ridgewood High School, Stamatopoulos wrote for his school variety show and was astounded he could get laughs with the material he had written. While attending Columbia College Chicago he performed a duo act with comedian Andy Dick, in which Stamatopoulos played a ventriloquist and Dick played a dummy under the influence of sleeping pills.

Stamatopoulos had written a spec script for a Simpsons episode, just out of love for the show, and Andy convinced him to submit it to The Ben Stiller Show, which got him hired. He met and worked with Bob Odenkirk. After Stiller's show was canceled, he moved to New York and joined the writing staff of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, also with Odenkirk. During the '90s he wrote for Late Show with David Letterman, The Dana Carvey Show and Mr. Show with Bob and David. In 2000 Dino and Robert Smigel pitched Comedy Central a spin-off of Smigel's TV Funhouse Saturday Night Live cartoons which would be a half-hour sketch comedy show. TV Funhouse premiered on 2000 and 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. Following the cancellation, the show began to gain more popularity through reruns, leading to Adult Swim eventually reviving the series. It was announced on May 17, 2012 that a special episode titled "Beforel Orel" will air in September 2012, with the possibility of more new episodes to follow.

In 2010, Stamatopoulos began his new stop motion series Mary Shelley's Frankenhole, the show most recently finished its second season on Adult Swim in March 2012.^[1]

Stamatopoulos appeared as "Star-Burns" on the NBC comedy series Community from season one in 2009 until his character's death was announced in season three. However, in the season finale, his character was revealed to have faked his death, although he did not return until season five. He was also a consulting producer and writer on the show and co-wrote the stop motion animation Christmas episode which aired on December 9, 2010. In 2013, he returned as part the writing staff for the fifth season of Community along with show creator Dan Harmon.

A long-time fan of radio personality Steve Dahl, Stamatopoulos hosted a podcast called "Sorry About Everything" from May 2012 until June 2013 on Dahl's Steve Dahl Network.^[2]

Selected filmography

References

External links

• Dino Stamatopoulos at the Internet Movie Database
• Dino Stamatopoulos on Twitter
• TV Squad interview with Dino Stamatopoulos