Michael Beck

Born John Michael Beck Taylor in Memphis, Tennessee. He is the third of nine children, having four brothers and four sisters. He attended Memphis University School and then Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, on a football scholarship where he played quarterback. While in college he was initiated into Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. After graduating with a degree in Economics, he was one of 30 (out of 2,500) applicants chosen for London's Central School of Speech and Drama. Michael's stage credits, beginning with college, include: Camelot (he was King Arthur); and Cat On a Hot Tin Roof. Besides acting, his hobbies include reading, music and cooking.

Michael is known predominantly for his roles as "Swan" in the action film The Warriors (1979), "Sonny Malone" in Xanadu (1980), and as "Lieutenant-Commander Dallas" in Megaforce (1982). (Both the Xanadu and Megaforce roles garnered him Razzie nominations for Worst Actor and Worst Supporting Actor respectively.) Beck also appeared in other movies such as Warlords of the 21st Century, The Last Ninja, The Golden Seal (as an evil poacher), and Wes Craven's Chiller (as a cryogenically-frozen sociopath). He read for, but did not get, the role of Sir Lancelot in John Boorman's movie Excalibur. Michael starred in a short-lived television series, Houston Knights (1987), in the role of "Sgt. Levon Lundy." More recently, Beck starred in television shows JAG, Robin's Hoods, Walker Texas Ranger (in the episode A Difficult Peace), and as the Mars-born Terrorist-turned cyborg assassin Abel Horn in the science fiction TV series Babylon 5 episode A Spider In The Web.

Michael has narrated numerous audiobooks of John Grisham's novels. He has also narrated Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz; A Darkness More Than Light by Michael Connelly; State of the Union by David Callahan; and the unabridged version of Bill Clinton's My Life. He also lent his voice to the popular video game adaptation of The Warriors (2005).

Michael lives in California with his songwriter-wife Cari (they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in September 2005), and with their two children: daughter Ashley and son Jesse. According to Michael, neither of his kids acts or plays football.

It has been announced that he will reprise his role as 'Swan' again in the remake of The Warriors, to be released in 2010.



Filmography

Michael Beck - filmography

5 most recent films

Chiller - 2.0 stars
Wes Craven's Chiller - 2.0 stars
The Warriors - HD - 4.0 stars
The Warriors - 3.5 stars
The Warriors - Blu-ray - 3.5 stars

5 highest-rated films

The Warriors - Blu-ray - 3.5 stars
The Warriors - 3.5 stars
Chiller - 2.0 stars
The Warriors - HD - 4.0 stars
Wes Craven's Chiller - 2.0 stars

5 lowest-rated films

Wes Craven's Chiller - 2.0 stars
The Warriors - HD - 4.0 stars
Chiller - 2.0 stars
The Warriors - 3.5 stars
The Warriors - Blu-ray - 3.5 stars

Most frequent co-stars

David Patrick Kelly - 4 times - show films
Thomas G. Waites - 4 times - show films
Deborah Van Valkenburgh - 4 times - show films
James Remar - 4 times - show films
Mercedes Ruehl - 4 times - show films

Most frequent directors

Walter Hill - 4 times - show films
Wes Craven - 2 times - show films