Dr. Drew Biography

Dr. Drew is the stage name of physician Drew Pinsky, a radio and television personality who has been dispensing advice on sex and addiction since the mid-1980s. Pinsky got his start on the Los Angeles radio station KROQ in 1983, when he was still studying medicine at the University of Southern California. What began as a once-a-week appearance became a full-time gig in 1984, and, while proceeding with his medical career at Huntington Memorial Hospital, Dr. Drew gained popularity during the late ’80s as a radio host. His breakthrough came while teamed with co-host Adam Carolla, whose locker room humor was a good counterpoint to Dr. Drew’s sober — but hip — paternalism. Their show was syndicated in 1995, and until Carolla’s departure in 2000, Loveline enjoyed mainstream success on radio and on MTV, replacing Dr. Ruth‘s as the go-to program for amusingly frank talk about sex. While Pinsky continued Loveline on the radio, he made a living as a multimedia guest expert, then ventured into reality TV programming. After some misses, he had a hit with Celebrity Rehab in 2008, a show involving has-been celebrities in “therapy” with Dr. Drew and other addiction experts. Although critics questioned its efficacy and ethics, the show was popular enough to spawn the spin-offs Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew and Sober House.