Michael Chiklis

Early life

Chiklis was born on August 30, 1963, in Lowell, Massachusetts. His mother, Katherine (née Vousboukis) (1939–2019), was a hospital administrative aide, and his father, Charles P. ("Charlie") Chiklis (1939–2020), ran a hair and beauty salon. Chiklis has been described as having inherited his acting ability from his mother. His father was a second-generation Greek American (his paternal ancestors came from Lesbos), and his mother was of Greek and Irish descent. Chiklis grew up in Andover, Massachusetts and began entertaining his family with celebrity imitations when he was five years old. As a child, Chiklis appeared in regional theater productions and became a member of the Actors' Equity Association at age 13. In the ninth grade, he portrayed Hawkeye Pierce in Andover High School's production of MASH*. He graduated from Boston University College of Fine Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

Career

After graduating from Boston University, Chiklis moved to Brooklyn, New York, and was cast in the role of John Belushi in the controversial biopic Wired (1989). The film was panned in general and flopped at the box office, though Chiklis's performance as Belushi (one of his idols) was highly praised. He also guest starred in several popular television series such as Miami Vice, B.L. Stryker, Wiseguy, L.A. Law, Murphy Brown, and Seinfeld, as well as in bit parts in such films as Nixon.

Chiklis' first successful role was in The Commish, a police comedy/drama that ran from 1991 to 1996 on ABC. Chiklis played Anthony "Tony" J. Scali, a police commissioner in a small city in upstate New York. After The Commish, Chiklis starred in the short-lived NBC sitcom Daddio.

In 1997, Chiklis replaced Rob Becker in the Broadway one-man show Defending the Caveman, taking on the role from January 1997 to the show's closing in June 1997.

After playing Curly Howard in the TV film The Three Stooges (2000), Chiklis decided to reinvent his image. With his wife's help, he spent six months on an extensive workout regimen and shaved his head. He turned up to audition for The Shield looking nothing like the pudgy, friendly character of The Commish. Chiklis won over creator Shawn Ryan and nabbed the leading role of the show's anti-hero, LAPD Detective Vic Mackey. He won the 2002 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series for the role. Chiklis received a Golden Globe Award that same year for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series-Drama as well. Between 2004 and 2005, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama Series but did not win. Chiklis later parodied his role as Vic Mackey in the Robot Chicken episode, "Monstourage"; the skit involved Mackey accidentally switching places with Ben Grimm.

Since 2000, Chiklis has taken up a number of voice roles, voicing Chihiro's father, Akio, in the English dub of Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away and Roman/King Webster in the direct-to-video feature The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina. He has also performed in several episodes of Family Guy and had a voice role in Heavy Gear: The Animated Series.

In 2005, he starred in Fantastic Four (2005) as Thing and reprised the role in its sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007). A fan of the comic book series, he had dreamed of playing the character if ever a Fantastic Four film were produced. Chiklis was often praised for his performance in a film that otherwise earned mixed reviews.

In the film Eagle Eye (2008), Chiklis portrays the United States Secretary of Defense.

In the wake of the Bernie Madoff scandal, Chiklis was developing a series at FX about a similar investment scheme. The project, called House of Cards, concerns a group committing an elaborate scam similar to the Madoff fraud. Chiklis had been developing the project since February 2008 after he and his wife became victims of a Ponzi scheme themselves. Chiklis planned to executive produce but not star.

Chiklis later starred in the ABC television series No Ordinary Family, which premiered on September 28, 2010, as part of the 2010–11 television season and ended in April 2011. He also co-starred in the CBS crime drama Vegas.

In March 2014, it was announced that Chiklis had been cast in American Horror Story: Freak Show, season 4 of the FX anthology series.

In 2014, Chiklis played a small part towards the end of the FX series Sons of Anarchy. He appears first in the episode "Rose Red", as a trucker who first encounters Gemma, who is on her way to her father, at a truck stop. He also plays a truck driver in the series finale.

In 2015, he appeared in Gotham as Captain Nathaniel Barnes. In a nod to Chiklis' time on the Strike Team on The Shield, his character established a similarly named "Strike Force".

In September 2016, Chiklis released his first solo album, INFLUENCE. He wrote and produced the album at his own Extravaganza Music Studio.

Personal life

Chiklis married Michelle Moran on June 21, 1992, and they have two daughters: Autumn, born on October 9, 1993, and Odessa, born on March 26, 1999. Autumn played Vic Mackey's daughter Cassidy on The Shield.

A lifelong comic book fan who especially enjoyed the Fantastic Four prior to his role as Ben Grimm, it was reported in 2010 that Chiklis rarely turns down an autograph request from children.

Chiklis is a fan of the Boston Celtics, Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, and the Boston Bruins, was interviewed for the HBO documentary The Curse of the Bambino about the Red Sox's long struggle to win the World Series, and narrated the video introduction of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.

Chiklis is also an accomplished musician, specializing in drums and vocals, but also playing guitar and bass. He is a member of several performing bands in the Boston area such as The Surgeon General, Best Kept Secret, and Double Talk. He has starred in and produced films through his own production company, Extravaganza.

In 2011, Chiklis and his band MCB released their first single "Til I Come Home", a tribute song to the soldiers overseas. The song was used in his TV series No Ordinary Family in 2011. MCB's prior music includes another single, "Make Me High", written for the independent film High School (2010), starring Chiklis, Adrien Brody, Colin Hanks, and Matt Bush; the single was released in spring 2011.

Following his stint on American Horror Story: Freak Show, Chiklis told Larry King that he did not enjoy working on the show: "That was one of the darkest years of my career. It was, I think, it's one thing to do a horror film in the context of like two months or something like that, but to live in that for six months it just became, I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm an empathetic person, and I just sometimes start to take things on. But it was so dark, and it was so nasty."

Philanthropy

Chiklis has participated in celebrity Texas hold 'em tournaments to benefit comedian Brad Garrett's charity foundation, Maximum Hope. Chiklis has worked closely with many different charities over the years including The Children's Lifesaving Foundation, Alzheimer's Association, Autism Speaks and the Revlon Run Walk.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Theater

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. (2020-01-24). "Charles Chiklis Obituary - Newburyport, MA (1939-2020)".
2. "Michael Chiklis Biography (1963–)". Filmreference.com.
3. Bickelhaupt, Susan. (November 15, 1994). "Mother knows best". Boston Globe.
4. (November 1999). "Michael Chiklis: Hollywood Survivor".
5. "Twitter / MichaelChiklis: I know everyone thinks of me". Twitter.com.
6. Lucas, Drake. (June 28, 2008). "Michael Chiklis gets his day in Andover". [[The Eagle-Tribune]].
7. (August 23, 2012). "BU alums Michael Chiklis and Gary Fleder on the set of CBS's new series "Vegas"".
8. "School of Theatre Distinguished Awards".
9. Stone, Stone. (May 17, 1995). "Michael Chiklis: The show that could". [[The Spokesman-Review]].
10. (August 28, 1989). "'Wired,' film adaptation of Belushi's life, has two good mimics, one bad plot". [[Minneapolis Star-Tribune]].
11. Haun, Harry. (January 29, 1997). "'Commish' Becomes 'The Caveman' on B'Way". Playbill.
12. (June 13, 1997). "'Caveman' is closing". The New York Times.
13. Weinraub, Bernard. (April 3, 2002). "Police Show Has Humans, Not Heroes; In FX's Hit 'The Shield,' Means Justify Ends". [[The New York Times]].
14. "It's in the 'Cards' for Michael Chiklis". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
15. Ram, Archana. (September 28, 2010). "'No Ordinary Family' premieres tonight: Will you be watching?". ew.com.
16. Rice, Lynette. (May 12, 2010). "Breaking: ABC picks up 'No Ordinary Family' starring Michael Chikilis".
17. Gorman, Bill. (May 13, 2011). "Updated: 'V' Cancelled; 'Brothers & Sisters,' 'Mr. Sunshine,' 'Detroit 187,' 'Off The Map,' 'No Ordinary Family' Cancelled Too". Zap2it.
18. "Michael Chiklis joins the cast of ''American Horror Story: Freak Show''".
19. Highfill, Samantha. (October 12, 2015). "Michael Chiklis is ready to get his hands dirty on Gotham".
20. "Influence".
21. "Michael Chiklis".
22. (March 24, 2004). "CHIKLIS BANS DAUGHTER FROM WATCHING HER OWN SHOW".
23. Calhoun, Bob. (April 6, 2010). "The secret life of Michael Chiklis, comic book god".
24. (July 1, 2005). "'Shield' star moves on to bigger Thing". [[TimesDaily]].
25. Bobbin, Jay. (June 9, 2011). "Boston Bruins fan Michael Chiklis watching Stanley Cup Finals 'like a hawk'". Zap2it.
26. Jurkowitz, Mark. (September 16, 2003). "HBO takes a powerful swing at explaining Sox' sad history". [[The Boston Globe]].
27. Wilson, Dave. "Michael Chiklis: No ordinary Boston sports fan". [[ESPN]].
28. Fernandez, Jay A.. (December 1, 2011). "Nikki Reed, Sean Faris Join Michael Chiklis' 'Pawn'". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
29. (February 7, 2011). "Michael Chiklis to Release Debut Single". The Hollywood Reporter.
30. Rice, Lynette. (February 22, 2011). "'No Ordinary Family' scoop: Michael Chiklis sings!".
31. (May 29, 2012). "Michael Chiklis' 'high' school buzz".
32. "Why Michael Chiklis won't return to 'AHS'".
33. Tate, Laura. (June 4, 2008). "Children's Lifesaving Foundation celebrates 15 years". [[The Malibu Times]].
34. Gans, Andrew. (February 16, 2006). "Alexander, Kazan, Devine, Garber, Gets, Luft, Mullally and More Set for Funny Girl Benefit". playbill.com.
35. (November 26, 2007). "National Philoptochos Children's Medical Fund Luncheon". greeknewsonline.com.
36. (April 10, 2007). "The Entertainment Industry Foundation Revlon Run/Walk For Women Celebrates 14 Years in Los Angeles on May 12". prnewswire.com.
37. N'Duka, Amanda. (July 22, 2019). "Adam Sandler Sets Next Netflix Comedy With All-Star Cast Including Kevin James, Julie Bowen, Maya Rudolph & Many More".
38. (July 18, 2023). "Newsarama | GamesRadar+".
39. "Paramount Network greenlights production on Coyote".
40. [https://deadline.com/2021/03/michael-chiklis-red-auerbach-hbo-1980s-l-a-lakers-series-adam-mckay-1234718063/ Michael Chiklis To Play Red Auerbach In HBO’s 1980s L.A. Lakers Series]
41. "Rob Becker's Defending the Caveman – Broadway Special – Original {{!}} IBDB".