Stephen Guarino

This article is about the American actor. For the American Hare Krishna guru, see Satsvarupa dasa Goswami.

Stephen Guarino (born November 14, 1975) is an American actor and comedian, known as Sully Patterson on the Jim Carrey-produced Showtime series I'm Dying Up Here (2017–2018)^[1] and for his recurring role as Derrick in the ABC comedy series Happy Endings,^[2] a character that has since been carried over to the NBC sitcom Marry Me,^[3] as well as Connor on the ABC sitcom Dr. Ken.

Stephen Guarino
Guarino in July 2010
Birth name	Stephen Daniel Guarino
Born	(1975-11-14) November 14, 1975 (age 49)
Alma mater	Florida State University (B.A.) The Public Theater
Years active	2006–present

Discovered by Rosie O'Donnell, he was one of the prominent sketch comedy stars on the groundbreaking Logo TV series The Big Gay Sketch Show (2007–2010) with fellow comedians Kate McKinnon, Erica Ash, Colman Domingo, Jonny McGovern, Julie Goldman, Paolo Andino, Dion Flynn, and Michael Serrato.^[4] In 2018, he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for his role as "Quincy" in the Netflix series EastSiders.^[5] He also received the Outfest Best Actor award for his role in the feature film BearCity.^[6]

Early life

Guarino is originally from Orlando, Florida and was a member of SAK Comedy Lab. He graduated from Florida State University as well as The Public Theater's Shakespeare program. After appearing in numerous Off-Broadway productions, Guarino was a co-creator of the Off-Broadway improv musical The Nuclear Family with fellow members Jimmy Ray Bennett, John Gregorio, and Matthew Loren Cohen.^[7] Guarino was later cast on The Big Gay Sketch Show in 2005.^[8]

Career

After the success of The Big Gay Sketch Show, he appeared on television shows including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as well as the films Confessions of a Shopaholic,^[9] the BearCity franchise, and I Hate Valentine's Day ^[10] In 2011, he moved to Los Angeles after receiving a talent deal from CBS.^[11]

His first breakout role was on Happy Endings where he played Penny Hartz's (Casey Wilson) over-the-top friend Derrick for three seasons. He also appeared on The Wedding Bells, 'Til Death, The Neighbors, The Comeback, Marry Me, Finding Carter, Jessie, Sofia the First, Superior Donuts, 2 Broke Girls. He played Connor on ABC's Dr. Ken, Quincy on Netflix's EastSiders (Daytime Emmy nomination), and Sully Patterson on Jim Carrey's Showtime drama I'm Dying Up Here.

He has done three network pilots with James Burrows including Me & Mean Margaret, Relatively Happy,^[12] and Superior Donuts.

Guarino was to appear in Logan Paul's feature Airplane Mode (2019).

Directing and producing

Guarino was the director of the CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase in Los Angeles (2017–unknown).^[13] Notable alumni include Tiffany Haddish, Kate McKinnon, Fortune Feimster, Justin Hires, Nicole Byer, Nasim Pedrad, John Milhiser.^[13][14]

He previously directed Kate McKinnon's one-woman show Best Actress at the Upright Citizens Brigade.^[15] He directed Showgirls: Live in Drag starring RuPaul's Drag Race stars Willam Belli, Detox Icunt, and Vicky Vox.^[16][10]

In 2015, Guarino co-produced and co-wrote a CBS sketch comedy pilot called The Night Crew with Michael Serrato, Steven Borzachillo, Mark Hurtado, and Ryan Noggle David Burtka, and Neil Patrick Harris starring himself, Tiffany Haddish, Fortune Feimster, Jimmy Ray Bennett, and Nico Santos.

Personal life

Guarino is gay.^{[17][18][19][20]}

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006–2010	The Big Gay Sketch Show	Various	23 episodes
2007	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Garrett	Episode: "Haystack"
	The Wedding Bells	Ross	Episode: "Wedding from Hell"
2010	'Til Death	Ryan	Episode: "Sell the House"
2011–2020	Happy Endings	Derrick	8 episodes[21]
2012	Hustling	Don Dixon	4 episodes Nominated – Indie Series Award for Best Guest Actor – Drama
2013	The Neighbors	Chad	Episode: "Mother Clubbers"
	The Gates	Brett	Pilot
2014	The Comeback	Chateau host	Episode: "Valerie Makes a Pilot"
	Marry Me	Derrick	Episode: "Scary Me"
	Finding Carter	Toby	4 episodes
	Jessie	James McMillan	Episode: "Snack Attack"
2015	Life's a Drag	DJ Tricky Dicky	Episode: "Retrograde" Indie Series Award for Best Guest Actor – Comedy
	Sofia the First	King Marcus (voice)	Season 3, Episode 5 "Minding The Manor"
2015-2018	Sorry, Ari	Marcus	4 Episodes
2016	Gay Skit Happens	Various	2 Episodes
	Me & Mean Margaret	Paul	Pilot
2016–2017	Relatively Happy	Perry	Pilot
	Dr. Ken	Connor	9 Episodes
	Superior Donuts	Brad	Pilot
	2 Broke Girls	Richie	Episode: "And the Stalking Dead"
2017–2018	I'm Dying Up Here	'Sully' Patterson	10 episodes[21]
2018-2019	EastSiders	Quincy	19 episodes Nominated – Indie Series Award for Best Supporting Actor – Drama Nominated – Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Digital Daytime Drama Series
2018	The Strivers	Mark Cicero	Pilot
2021	Kenan	Van Sherman-Willis	1 episode
2021	This Is Us	Kevin's agent	1 episode
2021	The Sex Lives of College Girls	Sips Manager	3 episodes
2021	Good Trouble	Scott Farrell	Recurring role
2019-2022	The Goldbergs	Administrator Dean / Dean Dean / Joseph Lynch	5 episodes
2022	Unconventional
2022	The Really Loud House	Howard McBride	3 episodes

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2024–Present	Titanique	Ruth	Original West End cast

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	The Year That Trembled	Gilbert Blakely
2008	The Clique	Vincent
	Confessions of a Shopaholic	Allon
2009	An Englishman in New York	Demonstrator
	I Hate Valentine's Day	Bill
2010	BearCity	Brent Richards	Outfest Award for Best Actor[22]
2012	BearCity 2: The Proposal	Brent Richards
2016	BearCity 3:	Brent Richards-Dean
	The Happys	Johnathan
2018	Airplane Mode	Himself
2019	Blind Sight	The Security Guard
2019	American Bistro	Milton Buckner
2020	Catfish Killer	Bud
2022	Reagan	Mike Deaver	Post Production

Awards and nominations

Year	Work	Organization	Category	Result
2015	Hustling	7th Indie Series Awards	Best Supporting Actor — Drama	Nominated[23]
2015	Life is a Drag	7th Indie Series Awards	Best Guest Actor — Comedy	Won[23]
2018	EastSiders	45th Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Digital Daytime Drama Series	Nominated[24]

References

1. Petski, Denise (September 30, 2015). "Michelle Page Joins 'Bosch'; Stephen Guarino In 'I'm Dying Up Here'". Deadline. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
2. "Check Out The Best of Stephen Guarino on "Happy Endings"!". LOGO News. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
3. "Stephen Guarino Will Eat You Alive". The Advocate, November 22, 2011.
4. Itzkoff, Dave (April 22, 2007). "The Big Gay Sketch Show - TV". The New York Times. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
5. "INTO: A Digital Magazine for The Modern Queer World". www.intomore.com. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
6. Renninger, Bryce J. (July 18, 2010). "Outfest Awards "Marine Story," "Bearcity" with 2010 Awards". IndieWire. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
7. Van Gelder, Lawrence (September 19, 2003). "THEATER REVIEW; They're Just Making It Up As They Merrily Go Along". The New York Times. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
8. Itzkoff, Dave (April 22, 2007). "The Big Gay Sketch Show - TV". The New York Times. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
9. Confessions of a Shopaholic, retrieved September 13, 2018
10. I Hate Valentine's Day, retrieved September 13, 2018
11. Andreeva, Nellie (February 24, 2011). "Two Comedians Land Talent Holding Deals". Deadline. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
12. Relatively Happy, retrieved September 13, 2018
13. Pedersen, Erik (November 6, 2017). "CBS Diversity Comedy Showcase Gets New Co-Directors, Head Writers After Rick Najera's Exit". Deadline. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
14. Pedersen, Erik (January 3, 2018). "CBS Diversity Comedy Showcase Has Its 2018 Cast". Deadline. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
15. "Kate McKinnon: BEST ACTRESS". UCB Theatre. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
16. Lecaro, Lina (November 15, 2011). "Showgirls in Drag at the Dragonfly: The Classic Elizabeth Berkley Film, With Cross-Dressing". L.A. Weekly. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
17. Nichols, Larry (November 27, 2014). "Out comedian stars in new talking-head show". Philadelphia Gay News.
18. DiGuglielmo, Joey (November 4, 2014). "Comedic yin and yang". Washington Blade.
19. Guarino, Stephen (November 22, 2011). "Stephen Guarino Will Eat You Alive". The Advocate (Interview). Interviewed by Jami Smith.
20. Guarino, Stephen (July 9, 2009). "Nobody's Role Model: An Interview with Out Actor Stephen Guarino". Towleroad (Interview). Interviewed by Matthew Rettenmund.
21. Sandberg, Bryn (September 29, 2015). "'Happy Endings' Favorite Joins Showtime Pilot 'I'm Dying Up Here' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
22. Renninger, Bryce J. (July 18, 2010). "Outfest Awards "Marine Story," "Bearcity" with 2010 Awards". IndieWire. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
23. "7th Annual Indie Series Awards - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)". INDIE SERIES AWARDS. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
24. "Stephen Guarino - News". IMDb. Retrieved September 13, 2018.

External links

• Stephen Guarino at IMDb