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 and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007).

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 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 M*A*S*H. 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 2010–2011 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.

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 poker 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 Year Title Role Notes 1989 Wired John Belushi 1990 The Rain Killer Reese 1995 Nixon TV Director 1998 Body and Soul 'Tiny' O'Toole Taxman Andre Rubakov Soldier Jimmy Pig 1999 Carlo's Wake Marco St. Michael's Crossing Benjamin Arensen Last Request Victim Short film Do Not Disturb Hartman2002 Spirited Away Chihiro's Father (voice) English dub The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina King Webster (voice) 2005 Fantastic Four Ben Grimm / The Thing 2007 Rise: Blood Hunter Clyde Rawlins Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Ben Grimm / The Thing 2008 Eagle Eye Secretary of Defense George Callister The Legend of Secret Pass Calabar (voice) 2010 High School Dr. Leslie Gordon 2013 Parker Melander Pawn Derrick 2014 When the Game Stands Tall Terry Eidson 2016 The Do-Over Carmine Rupture Bald Man 2017 Fallen Narrator Documentary 2018 1985 Dale Lester MFKZ Crocodile (voice) English dub 2019 10 Minutes Gone Frank 2020 Hubie Halloween Father Dave 2021 Don't Look Up Dan Pawketty 2023 The Senior Mike Flynt 2026 The Mongoose Pope TBA Tyrant Filming

Television Year Title Role Notes 1989 Miami Vice Jeffrey Whitehead Episode: "The Lost Madonna" B.L. Stryker Unknown Episode: "Blues for Buder" Wiseguy Carlo Spoletta 4 episodes1990 Murphy Brown Tony Rocket Episode: "Brown and Blue"Maverick SquareNicky "Fat Nicky"Television film 1990–1991 L.A. Law Jimmy Hoffs 2 episodes 1991 Seinfeld Steve Pocatello Episode: "The Stranded" 1991–1996 The Commish Police Commissioner Tony Scali 92 episodes 1998 Touched by an Angel Matt Colletti Episode: "Breaking Bread" 2000 Godzilla: The Series Colonel Charles Tarrington Voice, episode: "Where Is Thy Sting?" Daddio Chris Woods 15 episodesThe Three StoogesCurly HowardTelevision film 2000–2001 Family Guy Various Characters Voice, 4 episodes 2001 Heavy Gear: The Animated Series Lieutenant Jan Agusta Voice, main role 2002–2008 The Shield Detective Vic Mackey 88 episodes 2003 Stuart Little Scar Voice, episode: "No Job is Too Little" 2008 Robot Chicken Vic Mackey, The Thing, Doc, Detective Voice, episode: "Monstourage" 2010–2011 No Ordinary Family Jim Powell 20 episodes 2012–2013 Vegas Vincent Savino 21 episodes 2014–2015 American Horror Story: Freak Show Dell Toledo 13 episodes 2014 Sons of Anarchy Milo 2 episodes 2015–2017 Gotham Captain Nathaniel Barnes 27 episodes 2015 Axe Cop Voice, episode: "Heads Will Roll" 2016 The Simpsons Boston Americans Quarterback Voice, episode: "The Town" 2018–2019 DuckTales Zeus Voice, 3 episodes 2020 Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons Slade Wilson/Deathstroke Voice, main role 2021 Coyote Ben Clemens 6 episodes 2022–2023 Winning Time Red Auerbach 10 episodes 2023 Accused Scott Harmon Episode: "Scott's Story" 2024 Hotel Cocaine Agent Zulio 8 episodesAccused Justin Ward Episode: "Justin's Story" 2025BMF DEA Agent Taylor 2026 Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness Sergeant Episode: "Livingston"

Video games Year Title Role Notes 2005 Fantastic Four Ben Grimm / The Thing Voice and likeness 2007 The Shield Vic Mackey

Theater Year Title Role Venue Notes 1997 Defending the Caveman One-man show Replacement

Awards and nominations Year Association Category Nominated work Result 2002 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series The Shield Television Critics Association Awards Individual Achievement in Drama 2003 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Satellite Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series 2004 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama Satellite Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama 2005 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor – Television Series Drama 2006 MTV Movie Awards Best On-Screen Team (shared with Jessica Alba, Ioan Gruffudd and Chris Evans) Fantastic Four