His father, Alexander Teresio Marinaccio, was of Italian descent. Marinaccio attended Catholic elementary and high schools in Enfield, Connecticut, after which he graduated from the University of Connecticut with a BS degree in Home Economics (he has told how he initially entered that course of study to be near a certain university co-ed). After college he worked at several jobs, then tried his hand at stand-up comedy with The Second City workshop in Chicago, Illinois. He moved from there into advertising, working first as copywriter at the firm J. Walter Thompson.

While working as an advertising agent and company director, he was urged to write a book about his near-obsession with the 1960s television series "Star Trek".