Andy was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and raised in Yorkville, Illinois. He is the 2nd of four children. His parents divorced when he was 4. His father teaches Russian at Indiana University. His mother designs kitchen cabinets. He attended the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign and then moved to Chicago's Columbia College to study film. Richter played in several Chicago improvisation groups before catching his role with Conan O'Brien.


On September 11th, 1999 show of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (1993), announced his retirement from the show 9 months hence (mid-May 2000). Was high school prom king. While attending Columbia College in Chicago, Andy had the title role in a class film called "My Dinner with Andy", a parody of the film My Dinner with Andre (1981). His father is an expert in Russian linguistics. Son, William Oscar, born 2001.