American actor
Played quarterback for his college football team.
Is originally from a tiny Delta city in eastern Arkansas surrounded by cotton fields - a small school powerhouse in football and basketball.
Was nominated for two Razzie Awards, Worst Actor in 1981 for Xanadu . And Worst Supporting Actor in 1983 for Megaforce .
His hobbies include reading, music and cooking.
His stage credits, beginning with college, include: "Of Mice And Men" (he was George); "Romeo & Juliet" (he was Tybalt); "Camelot" (he was King Arthur); and "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof".
His wife Cari is a songwriter. They have two children: son, Jesse; daughter, Ashley (died in 1989).
The third of nine children, he has four brothers and four sisters.
Was one of 30 (out of 2,500) applicants chosen for Londons Central School of Speech and Drama, following his college graduation.
Went to Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, on a football scholarship. Graduated with a degree in Economics.
Starred as Chance Wayne opposite Lauren Bacall in a production of "Sweet Bird of Youth" in London in 1985.
Not to be confused with another actor named Michael Beck, a New York-based stage actor who is a founding member of two theatre companies: 16 Tons Theater Company, a Brooklyn based ensemble which is devoted to creating original and multidisciplinary works, and the Ontik Ensemble, a Manhattan based theater company.
Tried out for, but did not get, the role of "Sir Lancelot of the Lake" in John Boorman s movie Excalibur .
Read (provided the voice for) the Books-On-Tape version of John Grisham s "Runaway Jury".
Born two days after Brent Spiner , in the same month of the same year.
Also performs as solo artist under the pseudonym Dee Jot Hausmarke, collaborating with international stars such as Wyclef Jean.
Lives in Berlin.
Has been DJ and MC in the German hip hop band Die Fantastischen Vier since 1989.
