Paul Lieberstein

Paul Bevan Lieberstein (born February 22, 1967) is an Emmy Award-winning American screenwriter and television producer who is most widely known as a writer and supporting cast member (in the role of Toby Flenderson) on the NBC sitcom The Office.

Lieberstein's first job in show business was as a writer on the television series Clarissa Explains It All, a job he won based on the strength of a spec script for The Simpsons that he co-wrote. Following that he was a writer on Weird Science in 1994 and later on the sitcom The Naked Truth.

In 1997, he became a producer and writer on the animated sitcom King of the Hill. He also had brief stints as a writer/co-executive producer on The Drew Carey Show and The Bernie Mac Show. He was also a writer for the short-lived series Greg the Bunny and Dead Like Me.[3]

In 2005, producer Greg Daniels (with whom he worked on King of the Hill) hired him as a co-executive producer and writer for the American remake of the British comedy The Office. He made his directorial debut with the season four episode Money.

Lieberstein's acting career began with a single line in the pilot episode for The Office; according to Lieberstein, that screen-time expanded after "the president of NBC saw my scene and said, 'He's funny. Let's use more of him.'" Lieberstein's role as the sad-eyed human resources director Toby Flenderson subsequently grew into a recurring role. Numerous cast and crew members, including Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, and B.J. Novak have strongly praised Lieberstein's acting work considering he had never done any acting previously and referred to him as a natural.

Lieberstein grew up in Westport, Connecticut He attended Hamilton College, graduating in 1989 with a major in economics (he "wanted to be a financier of some kind"). His first job after graduation was as an auditor at Peat Marwick International, a job that didn't last six months. He followed that with part-time work in his father's law firm, "working as little as [he] could so [he] could write."

His sister Susanne is a president at Lifetime Entertainment Services and is married to Greg Daniels. His brother Warren is married to Angela Kinsey.

Paul is an atheist, as stated on his MySpace account.