Al Jean - Personal Life and Education

Personal Life and Education

"At college, I was privileged to meet and work with some very talented writers who went on to work for Saturday Night Live, Seinfeld, Late Night with David Letterman and The Simpsons. No doubt my exposure to them at a very young age has been enormously helpful to my writing career."

— Al Jean on his time at Harvard University

Al Jean was born on January 9, 1961. He was raised in Detroit, Michigan and is of Irish ancestry. Jean arrived at Harvard University when he was sixteen years old and graduated in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. Daryl Libow, one of Jean's freshman roommates, said he was a "math whiz" when he arrived at Harvard but "soon blossomed and found his comedic feet." In Holworthy Hall at Harvard, Jean met fellow freshman Mike Reiss; they befriended one another and collaborated their writing efforts for the humor publication Harvard Lampoon. Jeff Martin, another writer for the Lampoon, said "they definitely loomed large around the magazine. They were very funny guys and unusually polished comedy writers for that age. We were never surprised that they went on to success." Jean has also stated that the duo spent most of their time at the Lampoon, adding that "it was practically my second dorm room." He eventually became vice-president of the publication.

Jean currently lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife, television writer Stephanie Gillis. The two were wed in Enniskerry, Ireland in 2002. Jean also has two daughters. They were nineteen and five years old respectively in January 2010.

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