Colin Quinn

Quinn's paternal grandparents arrived from Belfast around 1920.

He attended Stony Brook University, in Stony Brook, Long Island, but did not graduate.

Colin Edward Quinn (born June 6, 1959) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer.

Quinn was born on June 6, 1959, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, where he was raised, the son of teachers.

He is of Irish descent.

Prior to SNL, he was best known as the announcer/sidekick on MTV's 1980s game show Remote Control.

Following his departure from SNL, Quinn went on to host Comedy Central's late-night panel show Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, where he and a panel of New York's big names in stand-up comedy discussed and debated news stories of the day.

Notable film work includes his role as Dooey in A Night at the Roxbury, Dickey Bailey in the Grown Ups films, and playing Amy Schumer's father in the film Trainwreck.

Comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld, Tina Fey, Chris Rock, and Dave Attell have cited Quinn as the quintessential "comic's comic" and New York comedian.

Quinn has also become known for his comedic one-man shows that offer his unique takes on history and growing up in New York City.

He stopped drinking in the early 1980s after several bad experiences with alcohol, including blackouts and arrests.

Quinn began performing stand-up comedy in 1984.

He first achieved fame in 1987 as the sidekick announcer of the MTV game show Remote Control, which lasted five seasons.

In 1989, he hosted the A&E stand-up showcase Caroline's Comedy Hour, and wrote and acted in the comedic short/music video "Going Back to Brooklyn" (a parody of LL Cool J's "Going Back to Cali") with Ben Stiller.

He wrote for In Living Color, and co-wrote and produced the movie Celtic Pride, which starred Damon Wayans and Dan Aykroyd.

Quinn first gained widespread attention for his work as a cast member and writer on Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2000, and he became known for anchoring Weekend Update, the show's news parody segment.

Quinn was hired as a writer and featured player on Saturday Night Live (SNL) in 1995 and became a full cast member during the 1997–1998 season.

He established himself on the show with recurring characters and segments such as "Lenny the Lion", "Joe Blow", "Colin Quinn Explains The New York Times", and "Weekend Update".

Quinn began hosting "Weekend Update" in January 1998 after Norm Macdonald was fired, and anchored the segment until his departure from SNL in 2000.

He commented on a number of highly publicized media circuses, including the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal and the Microsoft anti-trust trial.

During his tenure on SNL, Quinn turned down an offer for the role of Scott Evil in fellow cast member Mike Myers's film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

Quinn has called the role, which was ultimately played by Seth Green, the only project he has regretted turning down.

After leaving SNL, Quinn hosted the short-lived The Colin Quinn Show on NBC in the spring of 2002.

The show combined sketch comedy and stand-up in a live-to-tape format.

Despite mostly positive reviews from critics, it was cancelled after three episodes.

Quinn had greater success with his subsequent show, Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, which ran on weekdays on Comedy Central from 2002 to 2004.

The show featured a panel of four comedians, with Quinn as host, discussing the social and political issues of the day.

The show ran for over 200 episodes.

His stand-up was also used in the animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties.

In 2005, Quinn participated in a USO tour of American military bases around the world, performing stand-up to entertain the troops.

He was the "unofficial co-host" on the Nick DiPaolo show on the now-defunct 92.3 Free FM in New York City, airing Monday–Friday from noon to three.

Quinn and DiPaolo were originally slated to host the show together on WJFK-FM, but the station decided not to pick up the show.

Long Story Short was filmed as an HBO special that aired on April 9, 2011, and Unconstitutional, The New York Story, and Red State Blue State were released as Netflix specials.

Quinn was also a regular guest on The Opie & Anthony Show until its run ended in 2014.

Quinn played Dickie Bailey, the childhood rival to Lenny Feder (Adam Sandler's character) in Grown Ups and Grown Ups 2.

He also had a recurring role as Hermie on the HBO series Girls.

Quinn wrote and starred in the L/Studio web series Cop Show, which premiered in February 2015.

The series stars Quinn as a satirical, pompous version of himself, starring in a New York City-based crime drama.

The show's guest stars have included Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Attell, Chris Rock, Steve Buscemi, Jim Gaffigan, Michael Che, Tom Papa, Jim Norton, Pat Cooper, Irina Shayk and Amy Schumer.

As of 2020, he has written and starred in seven stage shows: Irish Wake, My Two Cents, Long Story Short, Unconstitutional, The New York Story, Red State Blue State, and The Wrong Side of History, two of which he collaborated on with Seinfeld as director.