Paul Fahrenkopf was born in New York, New York to an artist mother and a civil engineer father, who exposed him to New York's culture at an early age and both of whom were active in local community theatre. He was raised in Manhattan and nearby Leonia, New Jersey (whose residents at the time also included Alan Alda, Robert Ludlum, and Anthony Bourdain). While Paul began as a theatre major at American University in Washington, DC, he graduated as a communications major, specializing in television. He is a former adjunct professor at Georgetown University.