Kaipo Schwab was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is a graduate of Boston University College of Fine Arts where he earned his BFA in Acting. He also had the privilege of studying at The British American Drama Academy in London England.
Upon graduating, Kaipo moved to New York City where he has worked steadily as an actor and director with such major theatres as The Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public Theatre, and The New York Theatre Workshop, where he is a Usual Suspect (a member of their official company of artists). In 2004 he was selected to direct a portion of ABC Television’s Cultural Diversity Showcase.
He is also the founder and Artistic Director of the Imua! Theatre and Film Company, where he has produced and directed numerous highly acclaimed shows and short films since its inception in 1994 and where he has fostered the early careers of many recognizable names and faces in television and on Broadway stages today. In 2001 he established 15 Minutes of Frame, a wedding video production company.
Just as comfortable behind the camera as he is in front of it, his film and television credits include Fair Game, The Royal Tenenbaums, It Could Happen To You, Law and Order, Rescue Me, All My Children, New York Undercover, Cosby and more. He currently stars as prison medic, Igme Dimaguiba, on the hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black.
Kaipo and his wife, Hope, have been married for more than 13 years and are looking forward to many more happy years together. They live in New York City’s Upper East Side with their son, Giovanni, and their one-eyed pug, Wink.
