Editing David Mirkin (section)

==Early life==
Mirkin was born and raised in [[Philadelphia]], the son of Saul Mirkin (born Saul Capan) and Jennie Belkin. He graduated from [[Northeast High School (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)|Northeast High School]] in 1975.<ref name="inq" /> He is [[Jewish]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Pinsky |first=Mark I. |date=October–November 2007 |title=The Simpsons Have Skeletons in the Closet. And They're Shaped Like Menorahs... |url=https://momentmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/simpsons.pdf |magazine=[[Moment (magazine)|Moment]] |page=68 |access-date=2024-07-20}}</ref> His father was a computer engineer who was working at the [[Navy Supply Corps|Naval Aviation Supply Department]] at the time of his death from a heart attack in 1960, aged 49.<ref name=lmu /><ref name=mean1 /><ref>{{cite news |title=Saul Mirkin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-saul-mirkin/20610811/ |access-date=December 31, 2024 |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |date=December 18, 1960 |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|url-access=subscription |page=45}}</ref><ref>''Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906–1971''</ref> Mirkin's older brother, Gary, worked as a television engineer for the Philadelphia [[NBC]] affiliate, [[KYW-TV]], now a [[CBS]] [[owned-and-operated]] station.<ref name=mean1 /> Throughout his childhood, Mirkin had an interest in film, and explored both writing and filming.<ref name=lmu /> Mirkin has described himself as a "nerd" and was often in trouble as a child because he was "in another world". At high school, he felt the teaching was "too slow" and was allowed by his teachers to "skip class two to three days a week".<ref name=murder>{{cite news |title='Simpsons' Premiere Solves Burns Murder |work=[[Tulsa World]] |date=August 21, 1995 |page=E15}}</ref>

Mirkin intended to pursue a career in [[electrical engineering]], which he saw as a more stable employment opportunity than writing or film making.<ref name=mean1 /> He took a course at Philadelphia's [[Drexel University]] which offered six months of teaching followed by a six-month internship at the National Aeronautics Federal Experimental Center. Mirkin found the experience to be monotonous and unenjoyable and chose to abandon this career path.<ref name=lmu /><ref name=mean1 /> He decided that "making no money doing something I loved was going to be better than making a good living doing something I didn't",<ref name=mean1 /> so took "an enormous chance on show business" and moved to Los Angeles. He attended film school at [[Loyola Marymount University]], and graduated in 1978.<ref name=lmu>{{cite web |url=http://www.lmu.edu/Page53582.aspx |title=Saved by Comedy |year=2009 |author=Smith, Aaron |publisher=[[Loyola Marymount University]] |access-date=February 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090911233413/http://www.lmu.edu/Page53582.aspx |archive-date=September 11, 2009 |df=mdy }}</ref><ref name=odd>{{cite news |title=The Odd Life of David Mirkin&nbsp;– From Science To Comedy |author=Ivry, Bob |work=[[The Record (New Jersey)|The Record]] |date=May 3, 1997 |page=y04}}</ref>

Mirkin lists [[Woody Allen]] and [[James L. Brooks]] as his writing inspirations and [[Stanley Kubrick]] and the work of the comedy group [[Monty Python]] as developing his "dark sense of humor". He considers [[Mike Nichols]]'s film ''[[The Graduate]]'' to be what inspired him to enter directing.<ref name=lmu />