Rob McElhenney

Rob McElhenney

Date Of BirthApril 14, 1977
Age46 years 11 months 15 days
Day of BirthThursday
Place Of BirthPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Zodiac SignAries
Professions Actor , Director , Screenwriter , Producer
Birth Name Robert McElhenney
Nickname Mac
Full Name Robert Dale McElhenney

Personal Information
Residence Los Angeles, California, United States
Religion Christianity (Roman Catholic)
Languages Spanish , English
Star SignAries
Nationality American
Ethnicities Caucasian , Irish American
Complexion White
Trademark Dark humour
Body Features & Measurements
Height175 CM
5 Feet 9 Inches
Eye colorHazel
Hair color Black
Weight75 KG
165 lbs
Body Type Average
Family Information
Father Robert McElhenney
Mother Helena McElhenney
Sons Leo Grey McElhenney (born on 5th April 2012)
Axel Lee McElhenney (born on 1st September 2010)
Wife Kaitlin Willow Olson (Actress; born August 18, 1975; married on 27th September 2007)
Brother Patrick McElhenney
Sister Katie McElhenney
Cousin Marcus McElhenney (Olympic Bronze medal winner in Rowing)
Uncle Billy
Grandfathers George F. Summers, Sr (Maternal)
Robert J. McElhenney (Paternal)
Grandmother May Clements (Maternal)
Father In-Law Donald Olson (Publisher ; Father of Kaitlin)
Mother In-Law Melinda Olson
Great Grandfathers Mortimer Peter Summers (Maternal Paternal)
Hubert Patrick Morris (Paternal Maternal)
Joseph McElhenney (Paternal Paternal)
Great-grandmothers Margaret F. McCullough (Paternal Maternal)
Emma Anna Geiger (Maternal Paternal)
Isabella Butler (Paternal Paternal)
Education Qualifications
Education Waldron Mercy Academy
Education(School) St. Joseph's Preparatory School (the Prep)
Career Information
Debut (Movies) Minecraft(2019) (as director)
The Devil's Own(1997) (as actor)
Years Active 1997-
Salary $4 Million (Annual Approximate)
Favorites, Hobbies, Likes/ Dislikes
Favorite SportsBaseball , basketball
Favorite TV show Game of Thrones
Favorite sports person Ryan Howard (Baseball)
Skills Judo (Martial Arts)
Wrestling (Martial Arts)
Social Networks, Web links
Twitter ProfileRob McElhenney Twitter Profile
Reddit ProfileRob McElhenney Reddit Profile
Contact
Talent Agent Nick Frankel
More Information
Friends Donald McCloskey (High School Friend; musician)
Christopher Backus (Actor; previous room mate)
Inspirations David Sedaris (Writing)
Gary David Goldberg (Writing)
Carl Reiner (Writing)
Larry David (Writing)
George Carlin (Writing)
Woddy Allen (Writing)
Norman Lear (Writing)
The Marx Brothers (Writing)
Net worth$44 Million

Biography

Rob McElhenney is an American Actor, Writer, Producer and a businessman known for playing Ronald McDonald in the FX/FXX Black comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He is also the creator & producer of the show.

Rob's recent roles include Ian Grimm on Apple TV+ comedy series Mythic Quest which he co-created with Charlie Day and Megan Ganz.

Family- Childhood

Rob McElhenney was born on 14th April 1977 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Robert McElhenney(Father) & Helena McElhenney(Mother). He is of Irish Descent, from both paternal & maternal sides. He was raised Catholic.

Rob has two younger siblings(a brother and a sister). From his father's second marriage he has a half-brother(youngest) and a stepsister(older than him).

His mother came out as a lesbian in 1985 leading to the separation of his parents. He mostly grew up with his father. His parents remained close even after divorce, so much so that his Dad lived with Rob's mom and her Lesbian partner after his second divorce for a while.

Rob McElhenney in Childhood, being a Catholic kid

Image: Rob McElhenney in Childhood, being a Catholic kid

Marcus McElhenney, the Olympic bronze medal winner in the men's eight rowing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is his paternal cousin. Marcus has also won multiple Gold medals at the Rowing world championships.

Education

  • Waldron Mercy Academy: Rob attended Waldron Mercy Academy, a private K-8 Catholic elementary school located in Merion Station, Pennsylvania. Hollywood director M. Night Shyamalan is an alumni of the school.
  • St. Joseph's Preparatory School: Rob attended the St. Joseph's Prep, an urban, Catholic  preparatory school run by the Jesuits in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  • Temple University: He studied briefly at the Temple University, a public funded state research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Fordham University: He lived in the Fordham University  campus, but did not take any course, he realized it would just be waste of money since no one was really learning anything, he faked an ID to live in the college dorms, he ate meals from the college cafeteria in the place of a friend who disliked the food there. He joined the college drama group despite not being a student there, he however was ratted out by the guy who lost a role to Rob in the drama, that ended his stay at the campus.

 

Marriage

Rob McElhenney & Kaitlin Olson

Rob started his creative career with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, as a part of production team he hired Kaitlin Olson for the role of Dee Reynolds.  

They were also co-stars of the show, sparks flew between the couple and they started dating secretly during the filming of the 2nd season of the Series. Rob proposed to Kaitlin at Danny Devito's Beach house with a diamond cocktail ring. They got engaged in December 2007, after dating for couple of years the couple got married in September 2008. Kaitlin wore cotton & lace gown while Rob wore a Gucci suit.

Rob McElhenney & Kaitlin Olson wedding

Image: Rob McElhenney & Kaitlin Olson wedding

The couple have two sons Axel Lee McElhenney (born 2010) & Leo Grey McElhenney (born 2012).

Rob McElhenney & Kaitlin Olson with sons-Axel Lee McElhenney(Elder), & Leo Grey McElhenney(young)

Image: Rob McElhenney & Wife Kaitlin Olson with sons-Axel Lee McElhenney(Elder), & Leo Grey McElhenney(young)

When Kaitlin was carrying their first child, she went into labor while watching the Philadelphia Phillies vs Los Angeles Dodgers game, they went to the hospital in the middle of the game, the baby boy was born healthy and weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces.

Follow You

Rob and Kaitlin appear together in the Imagine Dragons official music video "Follow You". The video has garnered more than 75 Million views

 

Career

Rob started his career with the movie The Devil's Own(1997) in the role of Kevin. The scenes were unfortunately omitted from the final copy though.

Some of his other notable movies are A Civil Action(1998), Wonder Boys(2000), Thirteen Conversations About One Thing(2001), Latter Days(2003), The Tollbooth(2004).

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Rob McElhenney when he was fat during the 7th season of IASIP

Image: Rob McElhenney when he was fat during the 7th season of IASIP

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has been one of the most successful TV series of his career. 

He was born in Philadelphia like the character Mac he played in the TV series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. None of the other characters were originally born in Philadelphia. 

It took Rob 11 months to write the first 15 episodes of IASIP. Before his big break in 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' he worked as a waiter at the restaurants part time. He continued to be a waiter even during the first season.

Weight gain & weight loss: During the 7th season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Rob gained 60 pounds in four months to make his character look funnier, he initially wanted to do 100 lbs but his doctor advised to limit it to 60, he tried to eat lot of healthy foods but that did not help, he consumed donuts, weight gain drinks, protein shakes to put on weights, he however on feedback of his friends decided to reduce back to normal, he lost 23 pounds within the next month.

His opinions on his own show: Rob believes 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' should not be the mainstream idea of funny in a healthy society. The show according to him is an attempt to not be too uptight and be liberal in extracting comedy which is otherwise neglected by mainstream.

Inspiration behind creation of It's always sunny in Philadelphia: Desperation to find a job and make it big in Hollywood. (According to him)

The Always Sunny Podcast

Rob, Charlie and Glenn started "The Always Sunny Podcast" to relive the best moments from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The three along with other stars of the show (who would make a guest appearance) look back on the past seasons of the show. The podcast is available on Youtube, Apple and Spotify.

Mythic Quest

Rob McElhenney & Cast in Mythic Quest

Mythic Quest is a comedy TV series created by Rob with Charlie Day, Megan Ganz. The story revolves around the video game studio that created the video game "Mythic Quest". It stars Rob McElhenney, Ashly Burch, Jessie Ennis, Imani Hakim, David Hornsby, Charlotte Nicdao, Danny Pudi, F. Murray Abraham, Naomi Ekperigin and others.

He has also appeared in TV series like- ER(2004), Lost, How to Be a Gentleman, Living Loaded, Unsupervised, The Mindy Project, Fargo.

Rob McElhenney is working on the movie Minecraft along with Shawn Levy, Jason Fuchs for Warner Bros. The movie is expected to be released in May 2019.

 

Business

Co-owns the Welsh football club Wrexham A.F.C

Rob McElhenney with Ryan Reynolds

[Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynlods got old by the first half of the season, following Wrexham Football Club, source]

In September 2020, Rob along with Canadian actor Ryan Reynlods, became the owner of the oldest football club of Wales (established in 1864)- Wrexham Association Football Club. In 2023, the club became the National League champions marking the return of Wrexham to the English Football League after 15 years.

After the 

Skinner's Bar

In 2009 Rob & Kaitlin purchased the Skinner's Bar in (226 Market St) Philadelphia now known as Mac's Tavern. He usually stays at his bar on Saturdays. They serve couple of foods named after Rob & Kaitlin's IASIP characters- Mac's Chili, Sweet Dee's Turkey BLT.

Adim

In June 2022, Rob launched a new entertainment tech company named Adim with Chase Rosenblatt, Melissa Kaspers, Richard Rosenblatt and Spencer Marell.  In a veriety magazine interview about Adim, Rob said that "Adim is building for the next evolution of these groups – communities of creators, writers, artists, designers, developers, fans and friends working together to create and own a new generation of content."

Four Walls

Rob and his It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia buddies Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton launched an Irish American Whiskey company named "Four Walls", to capture the spirit of the Patty's Pub.

Filmography

Movies

Year Movie Character Notes
2004 The Tollbooth Simon Stanton  
2003 Latter Days Elder Harmon  
2002 Long Story Short Trent  
2001 Thirteen Conversations About One Thing Chris Hammond  
2001 Campfire Stories Ricky  
2000 Wonder Boys Student (Scenes deleted)
1998 A Civil Action Teenager  
1997 The Devil's Own Kevin (Scenes deleted)

 

TV Series

Year Series/ Show Character Notes
2022 Welcome to Wrexham Himself also producer, co-creator
2020- Mythic Quest Ian Grimm also co-creator/ writer/ director/ producer
2005- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Ronald "Mac" McDonald also writer/ director/ producer/ creator
2019 Game of Thrones Ironborn soldier S08E01Winterfell
2018-2019 The Cool Kids   co-executive producer, 22 Episodes
2017 Fargo Officer Oscar Hunt S03Eo3: The Law of Non-Contradiction
2015 On the Record with Mick Rock.   Executive producer; 6 episodes
2014-2017 The Mindy Project Louis "Lou" Tookers 4 episodes
2012 Unsupervised   Executive producer; 13 episodes
2011-2012 How to Be a Gentleman   consulting producer; 9 episodes
2007-2010 Lost Aldo 2 episodes
2004 ER Andy Fesh Episode: "Where There's Smoke"
1997 Law & Order Joey Timon Episode: "Thrill"

 

Interesting Facts

  • Nike TV commercial: He has appeared in the Nike commercial in 1999.
  • Anti-smoking ad: He appeared in an Ad which said 'Think, Quit smoking' as an attempt to discourage smoking and make it hip.
  • He looked quite young even at 19-20, he looked 13-14 and was cast for Ads, so he easily outperformed in the auditions with experience
  • Karate Training: He joined karate class after he failed to kick the mirror of a car and incident around that.
  • Move to Los Angeles from New York: He was into drugs when he was in New York, he was also trying to get away from an Ex and also try and reboot his career which was moving nowhere.
  • If he wasn't an actor: He would have liked to be a Basketball player or an Engineer.
  • Rob's character Mac had written a letter to 'Chase Utley' on the IASIP show, the baseball star Chase reacted to it with a video, it was fun.
  • LGBT rights: He is supportive of the Gay/Lesbian movements, his mother is a lesbian.
  • McElhenney scholarship funds: Rob was a student at the Saint Joseph's Preparatory School during 1995, he and wife Kaitlin established scholarships for young children to help them afford education.
  • IASIP is one of the largest running TV shows ever.
  • He wants to concentrate more on Writing & direction, does not want to just focus on acting.
  • He is building a house for the family. He wants a swimming pool and possibly a playing court.
  • The pilot episode of It's always Sunny in Philadelphia was shot in $100-$300, with a hand held recorder.
  • He was brought up in Irish enclaves, his grandparents feared Italian neighborhood. He was not allowed to ride bike until he was 13-14.
  • His first school play: Sound of Music.
  • The Devil's Own(1997): He had a small role in the movie, he was paid and he was quite happy to be finally making it in the Hollywood, he took all his family to watch the movie, but his scenes were cut from the final release much to his disappointment.
  • His first Car: A used mini van.
  • He doesn't want to see his kids growing up messed up, he takes parenting pretty seriously.
  • He feels his wife Kaitlin is a fantastic comedy actress around with great sense of humor, and wishes everyone had a mother like her
  • Rob doesn't like Valentine's day [3]

 

Quotes

  • I can’t believe there was a time when I thought football was boring. [Source]
  • I think of all the UK terms that I’ve learned over the last few years my absolute favorite is “Squeaky Bum Time” [source]
  • They are like every working class community on Earth: Marginalized, forgotten about, under-appreciated. And yet still they wake up every single day and get the job done. [source]
  • I highly recommend making a TV show with your best friends. [source
  • Someone just told me that he doesn’t like my shows because he can’t tell the “good” people from the “bad”people. I’ve never been happier. [source]

 

 

Sources

  1. Rob McElhenney on wikipedia
  2. Danny Devito on The Always Sunny Podcast
  3. Kaitlin, on Jimmy Kimmel's show
  4.  

 

Related Celebrities

  1. Charlie Day
  2. Glenn Howerton
  3. Kaitlin Olson
  4. Cristin Milioti

Photos/ Pictures

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