MICHAEL CHIKLIS Biography - Actors and Actresses

 
 

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MICHAEL CHIKLIS

Name: Michael Charles Chiklis                                                             
Born: 30 August 1963 Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S.                                           
                                                                                           
Michael Charles Chiklis (born August 30, 1963) is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning       
American actor. He is known for starring in two popular police dramas: The                 
Commish (1991–1995) and The Shield (2002–) and as Ben Grimm/The Thing in the           
live-action Fantastic Four films.                                                         
                                                                                           
Chiklis was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, to Charlie Chiklis, a second-generation         
Greek American who runs a hair salon, and Kate, a hospital administrative aide             
from whom Chiklis has been described as inheriting his acting ability.                     
Chiklis' paternal ancestors came from Lesbos Island. Chiklis grew up in                   
Andover, Massachusetts and began entertaining his family with celebrity                   
imitations when he was just five years old. As a child, Chiklis appeared in               
regional theater productions and earned his Actor's Equity card at age thirteen.           
He later attended Boston University College of Fine Arts, where he received his           
Bachelor of Fine Arts.                                                                     
                                                                                           
At age 20, Chiklis shaved his head to look like male-pattern baldness for the             
part of a 65-year-old man in You Can't Take It With You. Instead of using powder           
on his head (as he did on his face), he used greasepaint, and he failed to                 
remove it properly at the end of each day. This killed the hair follicles on his           
head, essentially shaping his career in many ways. Chiklis has said in an                 
interview that this was a very traumatic experience as a young actor, and is the           
reason he wore a hairpiece in Wired.                                                       
                                                                                           
After graduation, Chiklis moved to New York City with high ambitions, but he               
struggled for several years before being cast the role of John Belushi in the             
controversial biopic Wired in 1989. The film was panned in general and flopped             
at the box office, but Chiklis received good reviews for his performance. He               
also guest starred in several popular television series such as Miami Vice, L.A.           
Law, Murphy Brown, and Seinfeld alongside bit parts in films like Nixon.                   
                                                                                           
The Commish was Chiklis's first acclaimed and successful role. In the family-friendly     
police comedy/drama, Chiklis played Anthony "Tony" J. Scali, a police                     
commissioner in a small city in upstate New York. A stern but lovable father               
figure, Chiklis's character had an easygoing style, smart wit, and an unorthodox           
approach to parenthood and police work. After The Commish, Chiklis starred in             
the short-lived and critically-panned NBC sitcom Daddio. After playing Curly               
Howard in a television movie about the Three Stooges, 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.                         
                                                                                           
Winning over the creator Shawn Ryan, Chiklis nabbed the leading role of the show's         
tough, edgy, detective Vic Mackey. Although The Shield has been controversial             
because of its violent content, Chiklis's acting has been highly praised, and he           
has won several awards for his role. Playing the role of the bulked up and                 
brutal cop has also helped Chiklis break out from typecasting, shedding the               
overweight and friendly image that had defined his career in the past. It was             
noted by Charlie Brooker that in many shots he bore a strong resemblance to Ross           
Kemp. Since 2000, he is also 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 & 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 as The Thing and for its sequel, Fantastic           
Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. A fan of the comic series, Chiklis was often             
praised for his performance in a film that otherwise earned mixed reviews.                 
Chiklis's first major recognition came in 2003, as he won the 2002 Emmy Award             
for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series for his role as Detective Vic                 
Mackey on The Shield. He received a Golden Globe 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.