Kevin O'Driscoll

Kevin O'Driscoll, the oldest of six children is originally from the Vailsburg section of Newark, New Jersey where many immigrant families settled in the 1940s and 1950s. Kevin's paternal grandparents were from the South of Ireland in County Cork, which is the home of the ancient seafaring O hEidirsceoil clan, where his family still maintains a home. His paternal grandmother was a Murphy from County Kerry near the town of Killarney where he has ancestors buried in the ancient Muckross Abbey. His paternal grandparents came to the US in the 1920s during a period of upheaval when Ireland was embroiled in a civil war. Kevin's maternal grandparents were from Scranton Pennsylvania where his ancestors served in the Civil war, and claimed to have had roots going back to the colonial era in New York State. Kevin graduated from Columbia High School, and obtained a B.S. from Fairfield University, Connecticut. Kevin obtained a Ph.D. degree from Rutgers University in 1989 and went on to become an Assistant Professor at Columbia University in New York. He obtained several Federal Grants and published original research in molecular biology, oncology and neurology. Kevin has served on a Region II Environmental Protection Agency Workgroup in New York. Kevin retired from academia in 2001, and has since pursued a varied career dabbling in comedy, acting, writing and producing for the stage and screen. His comedic short films and sketches have been seen in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. He has continued to write and serve as a scientific director on projects on behalf of several pharmaceutical companies, Kevin has appeared in several prominent New York City comedy clubs such as Caroline's on Broadway, and Stand-Up New York. In 2005 Kevin conceived, produced, wrote and hosted a comedy show entitled "Turn Left" at venues in New York. "Turn Left" was noted as "A very important sketch troupe: great writing, acting and the stage was hilarious." Kevin has appeared as Al Gore and Billionaire Max Revenue in off-off Broadway theatre, and has appeared in several independent films. In an un-credited role Kevin said "Thank you Ma'am" opposite film megastar Meryl Streep in a scene from the TV Miniseries "Angels in America" directed by Mike Nichols. Kevin played soccer in high school, and raced giant slalom skiing in college. He is known as a local surf personality, and has surfed mostly on the East Coast but also in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Hawaii since he was in his early teens, and has skied all over North America and Canada. In his spare time he coaches youth soccer in the Northern Counties Soccer Association in NJ, reads non-fiction and enjoys playing guitar, karaoke, triathlons, surfing, skiing and mountain climbing. He is divorced and has two sons. He actively supports the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Valerie Fund Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.