Joel Mc Hale - Early Life

Early Life

McHale, the middle of three brothers, was born in Rome, Italy on November 20, 1971, where his father worked as Dean of Students at Loyola University Rome Center. His mother, Laurie, is from Vancouver, British Columbia, and his father, Jack McHale, is from Chicago. He has Irish and Norwegian ancestry. He grew up in the Seattle area, graduating from Mercer Island High School in 1991. He also participated at Youth Theatre Northwest.

He received a bachelor's degree in History from the University of Washington in 1995. While at the University of Washington, McHale briefly belonged to the Theta Chi Fraternity. He was recruited to be on the rowing team, but later walked onto the football team, playing tight end for two years. McHale received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Professional Actors Training Program at the University of Washington.