Michael Rosenbaum

Early life

Rosenbaum was born in Oceanside, New York and raised in Newburgh, Indiana. His mother, Julie (née Eckstein), is a writer and his father, Mark Rosenbaum, worked in pharmaceuticals. He is one of six children with two brothers, Eric and Adam, and a sister, Laurie. After his parents' divorce, his mother remarried sports reporter Gordon Engelhardt, and his father remarried Alexis Pelegrino, with whom he had two daughters, Rosenbaum's half-sisters. His uncle is pet behaviorist Warren Eckstein. Rosenbaum is Jewish, and says he was "closer to religion" in New York than in Indiana.

Rosenbaum graduated from Castle High School in Newburgh, Indiana and from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky with a degree in theatre arts. Immediately after, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.

Career

In 2001, Rosenbaum received a Saturn Award for his portrayal of Lex Luthor on Smallville. Continuing in the superhero genre, he played Wally West (a.k.a. the Flash) in the DC Comics animated series Justice League, Static Shock, and Justice League Unlimited, as well as portraying a younger version of Wally West as Kid Flash in Teen Titans. In the third season Justice League Unlimited episode "The Great Brain Robbery", Rosenbaum reprised his role as Lex Luthor when Wally and Lex Luthor temporarily switched bodies. In February 2008, Rosenbaum confirmed that he would be leaving Smallville after the seventh season. After many months of speculation and him first turning down the contract to return, it was announced on February 11, 2011, that Rosenbaum would return to Smallville for the two-hour series finale, which aired on May 13, 2011, with Rosenbaum reprising his role as Lex Luthor.

In 2012, Rosenbaum appeared in Hit and Run, which starred Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell. Rosenbaum portrayed the character Gil, a jealous ex-boyfriend from Annie's (Bell's character) past.

Rosenbaum provided the voice work for Ghoul in the animated DCAU film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Rosenbaum filmed the original SyFy comedy series Saved By Zeroes; yet was never picked up. He recurred in Fox's original sitcom Breaking In; the show was cancelled initially after the first season but got a second chance, and Rosenbaum was promoted to series regular. The series was cancelled again after a few episodes of the second season.

In 2014, Rosenbaum made his feature-film directorial and writing debut with the comedy Back in the Day, starring as an actor who returns to his hometown in Indiana for a class reunion. The film was filmed in Newburgh and Evansville, Indiana. Prior to the production of Back in the Day, Rosenbaum planned to direct another comedy film, titled Sorry is For Sissies. The film had a cast including Jon Heder, Colin Hanks and Jennifer Love Hewitt; however, at least half of the film's budget was lost, and the film was scrapped.

On June 17, 2014, Rosenbaum was cast as the lead in the TV Land original sitcom Impastor. The plot has been summarised as a "low-life who hides out in a small town by conning the residents into thinking he is their newly hired gay pastor".

In 2017, Rosenbaum served as narrator for the reality television show Hunted which pitted investigators against teams of ordinary citizens trying to evade capture as fugitives. Rosenbaum also starred in the Indie thriller The Neighbor opposite William Fichtner.

In 2018, Rosenbaum debuted his casual celebrity interview-based podcast called Inside of You. His first guest was his Smallville co-star Tom Welling. The two subsequently launched the podcast Talkville in July 2022, where they re-watch every episode of Smallville.

Rosenbaum reprised the role of Martinex in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which premiered in May 2023.

On January 6, 2023, Rosenbaum's band Sun Spin released their second album, Never Is What it Is.

In October 2023, Los Angeles Daily News reported that Rosenbaum and his longtime friend Jon Heder would star in the horror-themed reality television series Scared with Michael Rosenbaum and Jon Heder. Rosenbaum said of the project, "I wanted to do a reality show because we love horror movies. We'll go to the scariest places on Earth."

In 2024, Rosenbaum was the lead actor in the audio series TRUE NOIR: The Assassination of Anton Cermak. The series was penned by Road to Perditions Max Allan Collins.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

References

1. (5 July 2021). "Birthdays for the week of July 11–17".
2. (2021). "Robots in Popular Culture: Androids and Cyborgs in the American Imagination". Abc-Clio.
3. Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt; (March 25, 2013). "Baddies to the Bone: The 60 nastiest villains of all time". ''[[TV Guide]]''. pp. 14-15.
4. (9 February 2021). "Sun Spin's First Album Is Now Available".
5. "Michael Rosenbaum biodata".
6. "Michael Rosenbaum biography".
7. "Derek now lives in the Hollywood Hills".
8. Kraus, Haggay. (April 2002). "Smallville Interview".
9. "Michael's Story".
10. (13 June 2002). "The 2001 Saturn Awards". MovieWeb.com.
11. (February 11, 2011). "'Smallville' scoop: Michael Rosenbaum will return for series finale".
12. "Michael Rosenbaum Returning to Smallville For Series Finale". TVGuide.com.
13. Schillaci, Sophie. (August 22, 2012). "'Hit & Run's' Tom Arnold Reveals How Dax Shepard Helped Him Get His 'Man Card' Back (Video)". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
14. [[Roger Ebert]]. (August 22, 2012). "Hit and Run".
15. Kevin Coll. "TV News: Michael Rosenbaum and Syfy Team Up for Comedy Series Saved by Zeroes". FusedFilm.
16. Jon Lachonis. "Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum Returning to TV". TV Overmind.
17. "Breaking News: Fox Comedy Has Big Plans For Smallville Vet Michael Rosenbaum". TVLine.
18. (2012-04-12). "Fox Pulls Breaking In From Its Schedule, Cancellation Is Imminent for Real This Time".
19. (October 3, 2013). "Screen Media Goes 'Back In The Day' With Michael Rosenbaum". Deadline Hollywood.
20. (January 16, 2014). "The 20th High School Reunion Rears Its Head". The New York Times.
21. Inside of You podcast, Episode 13, 5:00 (July 3, 2018)
22. (June 17, 2014). "Smallville's' Michael Rosenbaum to Star in TV Land Comedy 'Impastor". The Hollywood Reporter.
23. "New 'Hunted' reality series to premiere on CBS in January".
24. (2016-08-18). "LAST DAYS OF SUMMER, PRISON DOGS, TWO WORLDS Win Top Awards at FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Film Festival".
25. Fadroski, Kelli Skye. (October 6, 2023). "Michael Rosenbaum's 'Inside of You' podcast goes live in L.A. with Zachary Levi". [[Los Angeles Daily News]].
26. "Inside of You podcast".
27. (July 6, 2022). "'Smallville' Rewatch Podcast With Show Stars Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum Gets Premiere Date (Podcast News Roundup)".
28. "Talkville on Apple Podcasts".
29. Miller, Leon. (August 5, 2022). "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2's Michael Rosenbaum Confirms Martinex Will Be in Vol. 3".
30. "Michael Rosenbaum (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors.
31. "Shear Love".
32. Reche Alonso, Jesús. (June 4, 2025). "Michael Rosenbaum vuelve al universo DC aunque casi nadie se ha dado cuenta".
33. Andreeva, Nellie. (April 27, 2009). "Missi Pyle joins NBC family pilot".
34. Hipes, Patrick. "Impastor".
35. (2015). "[[Infinite Crisis (video game)". [[Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment]].
36. "Credits - Infinite Crisis".
37. (2015). "[[Batman: Arkham Knight]]". [[Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment]].
38. "Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness (2016 Video Game)".
39. (28 September 2018). "Syndicated Comics".