Paul Gilmartin

In 2011 Gilmartin launched a weekly podcast, The Mental Illness Happy Hour. The long-format interview style show examines lives affected by mental health issues, including depression, addiction, fear, anxiety, abuse, and gender identity. Gilmartin was described by The A.V. Club as "a patient and empathetic interviewer", and The New York Times noted that with these hosting abilities, he had created "a perversely safe place in which he and his guests talk about their fears, addictions and traumatic childhoods."

Gilmartin has faced his own battles with mental health and addiction. He suffers from clinical depression, which went undiagnosed until his mid-30s. Following a major depressive episode in 2003, in which Gilmartin experienced suicidal thoughts, he entered treatment and discovered he had drug and alcohol addiction. He has been sober now for 16 years.

In 1995, Gilmartin assumed hosting responsibilities for TBS cooking and entertainment show, Dinner and a Movie, a position he held for more than 16 years from the show's premiere to its eventual finale in 2011. While at the helm, Gilmartin was best known for his sardonic wit and self-effacing humor.

Paul Gilmartin was born in South Holland, Illinois, and attended St. Joseph's school in Homewood. He is an alumnus of Indiana University at Bloomington. While there, he majored in theater and was a member of the academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa. He also studied at Chicago's famed Second City. Before his foray into stand-up comedy in 1987, Gilmartin regularly appeared in several plays around Chicago.

Paul R. Gilmartin (born January 9, 1963) is an American stand up comedian, podcast host and television personality best known as the longtime host of TBS's Dinner and a Movie. Since 2011, he has been the host and executive producer of the podcast The Mental Illness Happy Hour.