Michael Chiklis

Michael Chiklis - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Michael Chiklis

Michael Charles Chiklis (born August 30, 1963) is an American actor, television producer, and director. He is known for his roles as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Detective Vic Mackey on the FX police drama The Shield (2002–2008), for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2002 and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama in 2003, and as superhero Ben Grimm / the Thing in Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007).

This profile of Michael Chiklis covers Early Life and Family Background, Career and Rise to Fame, Personal Life and Philanthropy and Charity Work.

Other notable television roles of his include Commissioner Tony Scali on The Commish (1991–1996), Dell Toledo on American Horror Story: Freak Show (2014–2015), Nathaniel Barnes on Gotham (2015–2017), and Red Auerbach on Winning Time (2022–2023). He has appeared in films such as Eagle Eye (2008), Hubie Halloween (2020), and Don't Look Up (2021).

Early Life and Family Background of Michael Chiklis

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 is 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 M*A*S*H. He graduated from Boston University College of Fine Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

Career and Rise to Fame of Michael Chiklis

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 several 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 2010–2011 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, in the rock and roll genre. 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.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Chiklis), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.