Roth went to college at the University of California, Santa Barbara and is part of the class of 1966. He would later attend UCLA Film School as part of the class of 1973.
Roth lives in Malibu, California. He is one of the Investors defrauded by Bernard Madoff in a Ponzi Scheme via Stanley Chais. He stated that his losses were heavy and he has lost his retirement money, although the full extent is unknown. As a result of the fraud and the associated losses, Roth is suing the estate of Chais, who died on September 26, 2010. Roth is rumored to be writing a screenplay dealing with the Madoff-Chais scandal.
Roth was born in New York City, New York, into a Jewish family, the son of Miriam "Mimi", a Teacher, studio executive, and radio Writer, and Leon Roth, a university Teacher and film Producer. He grew up in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn in New York. He grew up boxing and would credit some of his later successes to it.
