Early life

Pinsky was born in Pasadena, California. His father, Morton Pinsky (1925-2009), was a physician whose parents emigrated from Russia. His mother, Helene Stanton (née Eleanor Mae Stansbury; born 1925), is a retired singer and actress who came from a "highly Victorian upper-middle-class family in Philadelphia". Pinsky attended Polytechnic School. 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 in internal medicine at USC County Hospital and became chief resident at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, and eventually moved into private practice.

Career

“	My goal was always to be part of pop culture and relevant to young people, to interact with the people they hold in high esteem.	”
— Dr. Drew Pinsky, The New York Times, February 2008.

As The New York Times described it in February 2008, Pinsky's dual career in medicine and the mass media has required him to "navigat a precarious balance of professionalism and salaciousness."

Radio work

Main article: Loveline

In 1984, while still a medical student, Pinsky started appearing in "Ask a Surgeon", a segment of a Sunday night KROQ-FM show hosted by Jim "Poorman" Trenton and "Swedish" Egil Aalvik. "Ask the Surgeon" soon combined with "Loveline", another Sunday night segment, into a show of its own, co-hosted by Trenton and Pinsky. Loveline went national in 1995, and the television version launched on MTV the following year, hosted by Pinsky and Adam Carolla. The exposure on both radio and television made Pinsky the "Gen-X answer to Dr. Ruth Westheimer, with an AIDS-era, pro-safe-sex message." The MTV show ran for four years, while the radio show continued until April 2016 with cohost Mike Catherwood.

On November 27, 2007, Pinsky began Dr. Drew Live, another nationally syndicated talk radio show where he focused on a wider range of health issues. It originated from KGIL in Los Angeles, originally airing weekdays from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm PT The show was canceled in December 2008.

On January 5, 2015, Pinsky launched a new weekday program, "Dr. Drew Midday Live with Mike Catherwood," on KABC in Los Angeles.

Television

Pinsky's first television appearance was as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune in 1984, though he did not win. He also served as "health and human relations expert" on the first season of the U.S. TV series Big Brother in 2000.

He has also hosted several shorter educational television series, starting with Strictly Sex with Dr. Drew, which ran for 10 episodes on the Discovery Health Channel, followed by Strictly Dr. Drew which addressed everyday health issues. He later hosted the MTV series Sex...with Mom and Dad (2008-2009).

In 2008, Pinsky starred in Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, a reality television show which involves celebrities in a drug rehabilitation facility. The show was filmed at Pasadena Recovery Center, with Pinsky serving as the resident medical expert. The series premiered January 10, 2008 on VH-1, and has been renewed for multiple seasons. A follow-up show to Celebrity Rehab with many of the same celebrities was Sober House, which began its first season in January 2009, and included celebrities from the first two seasons of Celebrity Rehab continuing their recovery in a sober living facility. In November 2009, Pinsky starred in a spinoff of Celebrity Rehab, Sex Rehab with Dr.Drew, which depicted celebrities being treated for sexual addiction over the course of three weeks at the Pasadena Recovery Center.

Pinsky makes guest appearances on a variety of news programs where he usually gives his observations on the relationship between controlled substances and high-profile individuals. He has frequently given his views on the deaths of people such as Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger and Michael Jackson, arguing that their fates should set examples of the seriousness of misusing drugs.

Pinsky has acted in several TV appearances (either portraying himself or a fictional character), Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Dawson's Creek, Family Guy. The Adam Carolla Project, Minoriteam, Robot Chicken, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, and Code Monkeys. Pinsky also appeared in the films New York Minute and Wild Hogs.

In early 2011, Pinsky began hosting his own show, Dr. Drew On Call on HLN that focuses on news involving health and addiction topics.

Other work

In 1999, Pinsky co-founded an Internet-based community and advice site for teenagers called DrDrew.com with Curtis Giesen. Among their early backers was Garage.com. DrDrew.com soon ran out of funding, and the company was sold to Sherwood Partners Inc., a corporate restructuring firm, which sold the remnants to DrKoop.com in November 2000. Pinsky re-acquired the site circa 2013 and began using for general information about his books, radio and TV shows, as well as hosting his independent podcast, The Dr. Drew Podcast. In September 2012, Pinsky announced on the The Adam Carolla Show that he will be doing a podcast on the Carolla Digital network.

In 2003, Pinsky authored Cracked: Putting Broken Lives Together Again, recounting his experiences as the Medical Director of the Department of Chemical Dependency Services 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.

In addition to his media appearances, Pinsky speaks at college campuses and other public venues. When Adam Carolla and Pinsky were teamed as hosts of Loveline, Carolla and Pinsky spoke at colleges.

Pinsky was the voice of 1-800-GET-THIN, advocating lap band surgery on radio ads and in a recording played for those who called 1-800-GET-THIN.

He also appeared with his dogs in a PETA ad campaign promoting the spaying and neutering of pets.

Pinsky also narrated for the 2014 documentary "Divorce Corp."

Honors

Asteroid 4536 Drewpinsky is named in his honor.

Pinsky was honored with the Larry Stewart Leadership and Inspiration Award at the 12th Annual PRISM Awards in 2008.

Credentials

• BA Amherst College
• MD University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine of USC
• Board Certified, American Board of Internal Medicine
• Board Certified, American Board of Addiction Medicine
• Certified member of American Society of Addiction Medicine since 1990
• Member of American College of Physicians
• Licensed Physician and Surgeon in the State of California since 1985

Personal life

Pinsky married on July 21, 1991, and he and his wife, Susan Sailer, had triplets Douglas, Jordan, and Paulina in November 1992.

Pinsky lives in Pasadena, California. Interested in fitness since his early teens, he goes running and does weight training regularly. In addition to his hobby of traveling, he also enjoys singing opera, as his mother was a professional singer. Pinsky stated on the June 24, 2009 episode of Loveline that at one point, he was torn between practicing medicine and becoming a professional opera singer. Pinsky stated that he auditioned for a celebrity singing show, but that the show passed on his appearance when he made it clear to producers that he could not sing pop songs, but did perform an aria on Turn Ben Stein On.

Pinsky's father, Morton, died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage on October 27, 2009. A title card at the end of the season 3 finale of Celebrity Rehab dedicated the episode to him.

Pinsky is a nonobservant Jew; he admits to abandoning most Jewish practices but claims to retain a continued desire to learn about the religion. He explains that religious as well as philosophical studies affect his medical practice and his speeches, and that his background places "an indirect coloring on every answer."

In September 2013, Pinsky revealed that he had recovered from prostate cancer surgery performed earlier that June and July, after which Pinsky did not require chemotherapy or radiation.

In an interview on Kevin and Bean, Pinsky has stated he will speak to any media outlet including TMZ and The National Enquirer, but will not speak to the Los Angeles Times, explaining "They distort, and they mislead, and they take things out of context. I really am stunned at how shoddy their journalism is, so I stopped talking to them."

Politically, Pinsky has increasingly spoken of the 'tyranny' of governmental overreach and the need for a “Liberty Party.”

Filmography

Radio Loveline Dr. Drew Live Podcasts The Dr. Drew Podcast The Adam & Dr. Drew Show with Adam Carolla The Mike & Dr. Drew Show with Mike Catherwood All About Women with Dr. Drew Dr. Drew's One-Minute Clinic Film New York Minute Big Stan Overexposed Wild Hogs

Television Dr. Drew On Call Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew Strictly Sex with Dr. Drew Strictly Dr. Drew Lifechangers Sex...With Mom and Dad Sober House Loveline Steve-O Demise and Rise 16 and Pregnant Big Brother Beauty and the Geek Crank Yankers Robot Chicken Minoriteam Family Guy Dawson's Creek Space Ghost Coast to Coast The Man Show Tom Green Live The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson Larry King Live (Host) Teen Mom Warren the Ape Metalocalypse - Episode: Fanklok (2012) My Gym Partner's a Monkey as Dr. Baboonski Legit (2014) Drunk History (2015)

Published work

Journal publications

• Pinsky, Drew; S. Mark Young (October 2006). "Narcissism and celebrity". Journal of Research in Personality 40 (5): 463-471. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2006.05.005. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
• Noll AM, Pinsky D (June 1991). "Withdrawal effects of metoclopramide". West. J. Med. 154 (6): 726-8. PMC 1002885. PMID 1877215.

Books

• Pinsky, Dr. Drew; with Robert Meyers; William White (July 2004). When Painkillers Become Dangerous: What Everyone Needs to Know about OxyContin and Other Prescription Drugs. New York: Hazelden Publishing & Educational Services. ISBN 1-59285-107-X.
• Pinsky, Dr. Drew (September 2003). Cracked: Putting Broken Lives Together Again. New York: Regan Books. ISBN 0-06-009655-1.
• Pinsky, Dr. Drew; with Adam Carolla; Marshall Fine (1998-10-13). The Dr. Drew and Adam Book: A Survival Guide To Life and Love. New York: Dell. ISBN 0-440-50836-3.
• Neinstein, Lawrence S.; chapters by Pinsky, Drew & Heischober, Bruce S. (2002). "Approaches to Management of Drug Abuse". Adolescent health care: a practical guide (4th ed.). Hagerstwon, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN 0-7817-2897-5. Cite uses deprecated parameter |coauthor= (help)
• Pinsky, Dr. Drew; S. Mark Young (March 2009). The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism Is Seducing America. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-158233-6.

Charities

Drew Pinsky supports the following charitable causes: Teens, Health Education, Health Care.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]