Michael Roof (November 24, 1976 – June 9, 2009) was an American actor and comedian.

Early life

Roof was born on November 24, 1976, at a

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

hospital at

MacDill Air Force Base MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida. The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, to Jean and Michael Roof Sr. He had two brothers and two sisters. Roof attended Reese AFB Elementary, in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

, then Frenship Intermediate and Frenship Jr. High, in Wolfforth, Texas, just outside Lubbock. While in eighth grade the Roof family moved to Yokota Air Base in Japan. Roof toured American comedy clubs with a stage name of "Chicken." He was especially popular in college town comedy clubs such as 'Deja Vu' in Columbia, Missouri. Under the stage name Chicken he became an underground sensation. Leaving audiences wanting more, even when he was the opener. This led him to getting his own headlining spots and a devoted fan base that helped launch his film and TV career. In 2000, he had a central part in the

WB Network The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on b ...

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

TV series '' Hype'', but it was canceled after its first season. After ''Hype'', Roof moved to Hollywood, California to pursue a film career. He landed a number of film roles in big-budget Hollywood productions. Some of these roles include

Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

John Maddox of the

U.S. Army Rangers The United States Army Rangers are U.S. Army personnel who have served in any unit which has held the official designation of "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the Ranger School, even if they have never served in a ...

in '' Black Hawk Down'', Dil Driscoll in ''

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy television series created by Gy Waldron that aired on CBS from January 26, 1979, to February 8, 1985, with a total of seven seasons consisting of List of The Dukes of Hazzard episodes, 147 ...

'', and

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

Agent Toby Lee Shavers in '' XXX'' and its sequel '' XXX: State of the Union''. Due to his death, Shavers doesn't appear in the 2017 sequel '' XXX: Return of Xander Cage'';

Nina Dobrev Nikolina Kamenova Dobreva (; born January 9, 1989), known professionally as Nina Dobrev ( ), is a Canadian actress. She is known for portraying Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce in The CW's supernatural drama series ''The Vampire Diaries'' (20 ...

took over as Shavers' replacement Becky Clearidge. In 2006, Roof was given his own Spike Channel reality TV show, '' Raising the Roofs''. The program, which ran for six episodes, followed the misadventures of his self-described "Florida

cracker Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to: Animals * ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies * '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker" Arts and entertainment Films ...

" dad, Michael, Sr., and his uncle, while they visited Roof at his home in Hollywood.

Personal life and death

After his television series '' Raising the Roofs'' was cancelled in 2006, Roof moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

with his wife, Megan, and their two sons. In the early morning of June 9, 2009, Roof's wife contacted police and reported him missing. Several hours later, his body was found hanged from a tree in a wooded area near a

Snellville, Georgia Snellville is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, east of Atlanta. Its population was 20,573 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a developed suburb of Atlanta and ...

, elementary school parking lot. Roof reportedly suffered from depression,

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

, and

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

, and had been despondent about family finances. He is buried at Dunnellon Memorial Gardens in

Dunnellon, Florida Dunnellon () is a city in Marion County, Florida, Marion County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,928 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 1,733 in 2010 United States census, 2010. It is part of the Ocala, Florida Me ...

.Funeral services for actor Michael Roof to be Saturday in Dunnellon
. ocala.com, June 12, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-06-15.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roof, Michael 1976 births 2009 deaths Male actors from Florida American sketch comedians American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Tampa, Florida People with bipolar disorder Suicides by hanging in Georgia (U.S. state) People from Snellville, Georgia 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors American expatriates in Japan 2009 suicides Comedians from Florida American male comedians