Drew Pinsky

David Drew Pinsky (born September 4, 1958 ), popularly known as "Dr. Drew", is an American board-certified internist and Addiction Medicine specialist. He teaches at the Keck School of Medicine at USC, but is best known as a host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show, Loveline, where he offers advice on a wide array of lifestyle issues affecting not only teenagers and young adults, but people of all ages.

Personal life
Pinsky was born in Pasadena, California and attended Polytechnic School; his father was also a doctor while his mother, Helene Stanton, was a singer and actress. He majored in biology at Amherst College, graduating in 1980, and earned his M.D. at the University of Southern California School of Medicine in 1984. He served his residency at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, and eventually became chief resident there before moving into private practice. Pinsky married in 1991, and he and his wife Susan had triplets Douglas, Jordan, and Paulina in 1992. Pinsky has also stated many times on Loveline that he was a contestant on an episode of Wheel of Fortune in 1984, where he won forty gallons of Sunny Delight and a year's supply of Turtle Wax as consolation prizes.

Loveline
While still a medical student, Pinsky began co-hosting the advice show Loveline on local radio station KROQ, with co-hosts Poorman and Scott Mason with no pay at first. Loveline went national in 1995, and the television version launched on MTV the following year, hosted by Pinsky and Adam Carolla. The MTV show ran for four years, while the radio show continues on today with KROQ radio DJ, Stryker. A companion volume, The Dr. Drew and Adam Book: A Survival Guide To Life and Love, was published in 1998.

Although referred to by patients as Dr. Pinsky, the name "Dr. Drew" came to be as he started his radio career while attending med school. Not wanting to promote his own name or practice, Pinsky took the over-the-air title of Dr. Drew to separate his professional medical and radio careers.

Pinsky's reputation as being handsome but clinical and straight-laced has led to him being referred to jokingly by current co-host Stryker as "Dr. McDreamy" and as a "man of exquisite passion" by former radio co-host Adam Carolla.

Other media
In addition to his radio show and medical career, Pinsky also has gained fame on television talk shows, where his medical expertise and relationship counseling abilities are highly valued. He served as "health and human relations expert" on the first season of the U.S. TV series Big Brother in 2000.

A frequent guest speaker on CNN, Pinsky has also hosted his own television series, Strictly Sex with Dr. Drew, on the Discovery Health Channel. His latest series on the same network is called Strictly Dr. Drew, addressing everyday health issues, premiered on July 25, 2006, and continues to air weekly on Tuesdays at 7:00 pm PST.

In the midst of the dot-com boom, Pinsky co-founded an Internet-based community and advice site for teenagers called DrDrew.com with a friend named Curtis Giesen. Among their early backers was Garage.com. DrDrew.com soon ran out of funding, and the company was sold to a corporate restructuring firm called Sherwood Partners Inc., which sold the remnants to DrKoop.com in November 2000. Pinsky no longer maintains any affiliation with the site, though they continue to run articles he wrote for the service in 2000-2001. In addition, Pinsky has recently become a self-proclaimed MySpace addict. He has publicly said he is in love with the amenities MySpace provides to Loveline.

In 2003, Pinsky authored Cracked: Putting Broken Lives Together Again, recounting his experiences as the program medical director of chemical dependency at the Las Encinas Hospital drug rehabilitation clinic in Pasadena, California. He also contributed to the book When Painkillers Become Dangerous: What Everyone Needs to Know About OxyContin and Other Prescription Drugs, published in 2004.

Has appeared on Tom Green Live several times in 2006 and 2007.

In 2007, Pinsky began filming a reality television show which may involve celebrities in a rehab facility. He will serve as the resident medical expert. "Celebrity Rehab" is expected to air in the Winter of 2007 on VH-1.

Other work
Pinsky is a trained opera singer and also plays the piano and bass guitar. He made his acting debut in 2004, playing the father of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's characters in New York Minute. He has also made acting appearances on The Man Show and Dawson's Creek and as a voice actor on Family Guy, Robot Chicken, Crank Yankers, and Wild Hogs. He frequently makes appearances on MSNBC, The Tyra Banks Show and Tom Green Live.

Pinsky frequently speaks on college and university campuses throughout the United States, on his own and, previously, with his former Loveline partner Adam Carolla. Asteroid 4536 Drewpinsky is named in his honor.

Credentials

 * BA Amherst College
 * MD University of Southern California, *Keck School of Medicine of USC
 * Residency Internal Medicine, *Huntington Memorial Hospital, *USC Affiliate
 * Chief Resident Internal Medicine, *Huntington Memorial Hospital
 * Board Certified Internal Medicine, *American Board of Internal Medicine
 * Board Certified Addiction Medicine, *American Society of Addiction Medicine
 * Member of American College of Physicians

Current Positions

 * Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, *Keck School of Medicine of USC
 * Program Medical Director Chemical Dependency, *Las Encinas Hospital
 * Active Staff Huntington Memorial Hospital

Radio

 * Loveline

Television

 * Loveline
 * Robot Chicken
 * Strictly Sex with Dr. Drew
 * Strictly Dr. Drew
 * Tom Green Live
 * Family Guy
 * Crank Yankers
 * Minoriteam

Film

 * New York Minute
 * Big Stan
 * Overexposed
 * Wild Hogs