Denbaum graduated cum laude with honors from The Lawrenceville School (1967) and Yale University (1971), where he was awarded the Saybrook Fellows' Prize[1] and was close friends with the author and critic, William A. Henry III, and the poet and psychologist, Steve Benson.

Denbaum's playwriting credits include Ways of Loving and Secrets, both based on stories by Brendan Gill and produced in New York City at West Park Theater[2] and Stage 73.

[7] While attending the Institute of Film and Television at New York University, Denbaum won First Prize in the 20th Century Fox Screenwriting Competition in 1975 for his original screenplay, Caught in the Act, about the Bay of Pigs invasion by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Denbaum also appeared on Saturday Night Live as the husband of Gilda Radner in the classic commercial spoof, Royal Deluxe II, which also featured Dan Aykroyd and Garrett Morris, and was written by Al Franken and Tom Davis.

[22] In 2023, Denbaum conducted academic research in Kyoto, Japan as the recipient of a Fund for Teachers Fellowship,[23] and in 2024, he taught a series of seminars on solving human rights problems to students from China, India, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, and Chile in the Eduexplora program at Yale University.