Philip Rosenthal was born in Queens, New York on January 27, 1960. Rosenthal was born into a Jewish family and spent his early years in New York. He attended Clarkstown North High School, where he was an active member of the drama club.
In 1977, he graduated from Clarkstown North. He went to Hofstra University after high school and graduated in 1981. He began his career as an actor in New York City in the early 1980s before shifting his focus to production work.
