Rob McElhenney

Robert McElhenney III was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 14, 1977. Both of Mac's parents were of Irish descent.^[1] He was raised Catholic.^[2] Through his father, he is a cousin of Olympic rower Marcus McElhenney. When he was eight years old, his parents divorced after his mother came out as a lesbian.^[2] He and his two younger brothers were primarily raised by their father, though their parents remained close after the divorce.^[2] His two brothers are gay,^[2] and he describes himself as having "always been part of the gay community".^[3] Through his father's subsequent marriage, he also has a half-sister and step-brother.

Mac attended Waldron Mercy Academy and St. Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia.^[4][5][6] He later briefly attended Temple University^[7] and then temporarily lived on the Fordham University campus with friends, but chose not to enroll.^[2]

Mac had his first major acting role with a small part in the 1997 film The Devil's Own, though his role was cut out of the final edit; the same thing eventually happened to him in Wonder Boys. He followed this with small parts in the films A Civil Action, and Thirteen Conversations About One Thing. He later had more substantial parts in the films Latter Days and The Tollbooth, and a guest role in the Law & Order episode "Thrill". When he was 21, a screenplay he wrote was optioned with Paul Schrader attached to direct, but the project fell through after a year of edits and rewrites.^[8]

Initially based in New York City, Mac moved to Los Angeles at the age of 25.^[8] When he was 27 years old, he was waiting tables between acting jobs and had met Glenn Howerton through his agent, as well as meeting Charlie Day while shooting a horror film in New York City.^[8] His idea for a sitcom starring himself, Howerton, and Day came from a suggestion originally made by one of his closest childhood friends.^[2] The pilot was filmed on a budget of $200 and pitched to various cable networks.^[9] After receiving offers from many of the networks, Mac chose to sign with FX as they allowed him more creative freedom, and the show was eventually titled It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Mac was contracted as its showrunner, while both Howerton and Day were listed as executive producers.^[8]

Mac has said that 50 weeks per year are taken up by acting, producing, and writing for It's Always Sunny, though he did find time to appear in the Lost episode "Not in Portland". This was a result of him meeting Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof, who is a fan of It's Always Sunny. He later reprised his Lost role in another episode. He is a fan of Game of Thrones and said that he was thrilled when the series' creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss asked him if they could write an episode of It's Always Sunny. He and his co-producers accepted the offer,^[10] resulting in the episode "Flowers for Charlie" in 2013. In 2019, he had a cameo appearance as an extra in the Game of Thrones episode "Winterfell".

In July 2015, Mac was confirmed by Mojang as the director of the upcoming animated Minecraft movie,^[11] but he later left the project.^[12]

In 2017, Mac appeared in a guest role as a police officer in the acclaimed Fargo episode "The Law of Non-Contradiction". He received praise for his performance from critics, who saw many of his character's traits and plot points as references to It's Always Sunny.^[13][14]

In 2020, Mac co-created the Apple TV+ comedy series Mythic Quest alongside Charlie Day and Megan Ganz. He also stars as Ian Grimm on the show and serves as a writer and executive producer. The series has received critical acclaim, with the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes giving the series an 89% approval rating.^[15]

From November 2021 to July 2023, Mac, Day and Howerton released The Always Sunny Podcast.^[16][17] The three discussed topics of all sorts with the general framing of the podcast usually focusing on the creators discussing each episode of the show, sharing behind-the-scenes information, and what was going on to inspire the episodes. Cast members from the show also appeared to discuss their own characters, and how they got into the show.

In 2009, Mac and his wife Kaitlin Olson along with others purchased Skinner's Bar, now Mac's Tavern at 226 Market St in Philadelphia.^[18][19]

On September 23, 2020, it was announced by the Wrexham Supporters Trust that a business partnership had been formed by Mac and Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds and that they were in talks to purchase the Welsh football team Wrexham AFC.^[20] On November 16, 2020, it was confirmed that the two had successfully taken over the club after receiving the backing of the Wrexham Supporters Trust.^[21][22] On April 22, 2023, Wrexham achieved promotion to League Two and also became National League champions under their ownership. This marked a return for Wrexham to the English Football League after a 15-year absence.^[23] On April 13, 2024, Wrexham secured promotion to League One finishing 2nd in League Two and securing automatic league promotion. In May 2025, Wrexham secured promotion to the Championship finishing 2nd in League One and securing automatic league promotion. In April 2024, some of Club Necaxa's owners purchased a 5% stake in Wrexham, reciprocated by Reynolds and Mac purchasing a minority ownership stake in Club Necaxa.^[24]

On June 7, 2022, Mac announced the launch of a new entertainment-tech company named Adim, co-founded by himself, Chase Rosenblatt, Melissa Kaspers, Spencer Marell, and Richard Rosenblatt.^[25]

In 2023, Mac along with his It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-stars Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day launched an Irish American Whiskey company to bottle the spirit of Paddy's Pub, named Four Walls as a tribute to the four walls of the bar they call home on the show.^[26][27]

On June 26, 2023, it was announced that both Ryan Reynolds and Mac were part of an investor group that bought a 24% equity stake in the Alpine F1 Team.^[28]

In October 2024, Mac again joined Reynolds in purchasing a majority stake in Wrexham Lager.^[29]

Mac has a sister, Katie, who co-created and wrote for the Mythic Quest spin-off series Side Quest, as well as the series High Potential, where his wife Kaitlin Olson serves as the lead and executive producer.^[30]

He hired actress Kaitlin Olson to play Dee Reynolds on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and became romantically interested in her "around season 2" of the series.^[31] He has called her "the funniest woman in show business".^[8] They were married in California on September 27, 2008.^[32] They have two sons.^[33][34] Olson went into labor with their first son while at a Los Angeles Dodgers home game against the Philadelphia Phillies.^[33] They have two dogs and a cat.^[35]

In July 2023, Mac announced that he had been diagnosed with "a host of neurodevelopmental disorders and learning disabilities".^[36]

In June 2025, Mac announced that he filed to legally change his last name from McElhenney to Mac, to facilitate his work in South America. In the credits of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's 17th season, his name was credited as Rob Mac.^[37]