Kriti Mehrotra
Directed by Phil Bowman, Netflix’s ‘Trainwreck: P.I. Moms’ is a documentary that delves into how a drug scandal and internal jealousy got a reality show canceled before it even began. It was around 2010 when Lifetime greenlit a series revolving around a unique group of soccer mom private eyes working at Chris Butler’s Butler & Associates, just to scrap it a few months later. That’s because not only was the business owner arrested for drug distribution, but his Director of Operations, Carl Marino, was also reportedly trying to sabotage filming from the get-go.
Carl Marino Was a Backup Investigator at Butler & Associates
Born and raised in Hornell, New York, as the only boy among the four children born to Carol and Carl Marino, Carl Earl Marino developed a passion for the military as well as justice early on. Therefore, when he graduated from high school, he decided to enroll at the United States Military Academy, commonly known as West Point, just to transfer around two years later. He actually earned a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice from the private research Rochester Institute of Technology, following which he kickstarted his career in the industry he so appreciated.
According to reports, Carl served on the police force at local Sheriff’s Offices for almost 17 years, proudly rising the ranks from patrol officer to jail guard to a Deputy Sheriff himself. However, as the years passed, he began dabbling in the entertainment industry too, starting by signing with a modeling agency for both commercial and print projects in the hopes of garnering large-scale exposure. After all, he had figured out his new calling – to be a professional actor, which is a path he wholeheartedly pursued following his service and the unfortunate demise of both his parents.
That’s when Carl chose to relocate to California for good, where he quickly signed with another modeling agency, got a full agent/management team, and began auditioning for various roles. While he made his first appearance on the screen in ‘Funny People,’ followed by ‘Liquor Store Cactus,’ and ‘My Name is Khan,’ his first credited role in a film is John in ‘Sedona’s Rule.’ All the while, he also continued working as the Director of Operations at Butler & Associates to make ends meet. As per records, while his official title was executive, he was primarily hired because there were times when the female-centric workforce just needed a male partner for external or safety purposes. In other words, while he did take on a few cases on his own, he was mostly a backup investigator of sorts.
Carl Marino Went Undercover in Chris Butler’s PI Firm for DOJ
According to the aforementioned original, when Lifetime approved ‘P.I. Moms’ as a reality show, Carl approached the showrunner to suggest he should be one of the main cast members. His reasoning was that since he is already rather established in the industry as a model as well as a rising actor, he would attract a bigger audience in the form of his fans, but the showrunner disagreed. This upset him to such an extent that he reportedly began sabotaging the series’ entire reputation and shooting process in the hopes of getting his 15 minutes of fame/screentime one way or another.
For this, Carl wrote an anonymous e-mail to a journalist writing a piece on the show to suggest it was all fake, tipped off a fake private eye that the real ones were going to bust mere hours before their scheduled confrontation, and falsely reported he had found a teenage girl who had been missing for weeks. The network as well as the producers wanted Chris to fire him, yet he never did, but it wasn’t until his arrest that they figured out why – the owner was trying to distribute drugs through him. It’s imperative to note that the Director of Operations himself had gone to the police to report the illegal activities before wearing a wire to get further evidence and bring matters to a close.
Carl Marino Continues to Chase His Dreams While Also Being a Family Man
Chris’ February 2011 arrest was the last straw for Lifetime, driving them to cancel ‘P.I. Moms’ for good, yet it didn’t really affect Carl since he had already figured out his next professional steps. Thanks to his big screen debut in 2010 with the Bollywood movie ‘My Name is Khan’ as well as the independent film ‘Sedona’s Rule,’ a lot of opportunities had opened up for him. After around 10 small or uncredited performances, he landed a regular spot on ID’s ‘I (Almost) Got Away with It’ before securing the role he is most well-known for today. He portrayed the renowned Lt. Joe Kenda on ID’s ‘Homicide Hunter’ from 2011-2020, all the while also taking up other roles across various shows. Since then, though, it appears as if Carl has moved from California to settle down in Tennessee for good, where he leads a comfortable, happy, and stable life alongside his wife, Ilona Marino.
The couple tied the knot in August 2010, a little over a year after meeting for the first time on the set of a movie in San Francisco, making them truly inseparable right from then on. Their love has stood the test of chaos as well as time as they plan on celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary soon, which could be with a vacation, considering they are both travel enthusiasts. Whenever they are not working, they are either engaging with their passion for the outdoors, like fishing and marathon running, or traveling to beautiful spots across the globe. They are also big adventure, food, and sports lovers, as evident through their trips in the US, Mexico, and Hungary. We should mention that while the actor has two adult children with lives of their own from his previous marriage with Teresa Rene Weir, he now shares an adorable dog and a cat with Ilona.
Read More: Chris Butler: Where is the Ex-PI and Convicted Felon Now?
