Tom Coiner originally hails from Marlborough, Massachusetts. During his late teens, he was incarcerated for four years at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. He escaped only once during his time there, to the Eugene O'Neill National Theater Institute, where he studied under David Jaffe and trained in Droznin movement with Rachel Jett; his departure was unnoticed by the warden, and as a reward for good behavior, he received an early parole and a Bachelor's degree in Theater and Math from Kenyon. The natural direction for him to go upon his release was Louisville, KY, where he spent a year as an acting apprentice at the prestigious Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Fearing that his parents might not remember him if he returned home after so long away, he fled to Austin, Texas, where he lived until late summer of 2008. While here, he worked with Austin Script Works (in both Short and Long Fringe productions for Frontera Fest and in Hybrid for the Out of Ink Festival), Teatro Vivo (The Boiler Room), Shrewd Productions (Trash Anthems), Breakin' String Productions (The Seagull), and Hyde Park Theatre (God Sees Dog: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead).

Fulfilling his own personal manifest destiny, Tom then headed even further westward! Last fall, he picked up his tote bag once again to move to the mountaintops of Colorado, where he is now pursuing an MFA at the Denver Center.