John Michael Beck Taylor (born February 4, 1949), commonly known as Michael Beck, is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Swan in '' The Warriors'' (1979) and Sonny Malone in '' Xanadu'' (1980).

Early life

Beck was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the third of nine children. He attended Memphis University School and then Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi on a football scholarship. While in college, he was a member of the Kappa Alpha 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 The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

. Beck's stage credits, beginning with college, include ''

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as th ...

'' (he was King Arthur), ''

Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job o ...

'' (he was George Milton), '' Romeo and Juliet'' (he was Tybalt), and '' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.''

Career

Beck is known predominantly for his roles as Swan in the action film '' The Warriors'' (1979), Sonny Malone in '' Xanadu'' (1980), Lieutenant Commander Dallas in '' Megaforce'' (1982), and Koda in ''

Triumphs of a Man Called Horse ''Triumphs of a Man Called Horse'' is a 1983 Western film directed by John Hough and written by Ken Blackwell and Carlos Aured. It is the second and final sequel to '' A Man Called Horse'' (1970), following ''The Return of a Man Called Horse ...

'' (1983). Both the ''Xanadu'' and ''Megaforce'' roles garnered him Razzie nominations, for Worst Actor and Worst Supporting Actor, respectively. Beck has appeared in other movies such as '' Warlords of the 21st Century'' (1982), '' Wes Craven's Chiller'' (1985), '' Gone to Texas'' (1986) as

James Bowie James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...

, and '' Forest Warrior'' (1996). Beck appeared as Hans Helms in the 1978 TV miniseries ''

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

'', and starred with Michael Paré in the CBS police drama ''

Houston Knights ''Houston Knights'' is an American crime drama television series set in Houston, Texas. The show ran on CBS from March 11, 1987 to June 7, 1988 and had 31 episodes. Summary The core of the series is the partnership between two very different c ...

'' (1987–1988). He appeared in television shows such as '' JAG'', ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film '' Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the ...

'', '' In the Heat of the Night'', as the Mars-born terrorist-turned-cyborg assassin Abel Horn in ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tele ...

'' (episode " Spider in the Web"), and as Mr. Jones in the spin-off series '' Crusade''. Beck has narrated numerous audiobooks of

John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas) is an American novelist, lawyer and former member of the 7th district of the Mississippi House of Representatives, known for his popular legal thrillers. According to the Ame ...

's novels. He also narrated ''Confederates in the Attic'' by Tony Horwitz, ''A Darkness More Than Light'' by

Michael Connelly Michael Joseph Connelly (born July 21, 1956) is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. Connelly is the bes ...

, ''State of the Union'' by David Callahan, and the unabridged version of

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

's ''My Life''. He also reprised his role as Swan in 2005, lending his voice to the popular video game adaptation of ''The Warriors''.

Personal life

Beck married songwriter Carolyn "Cari" Louise Brendel in September 1980. They have two children, a son, Jesse (b. 1983), and a daughter, Ashley (b. 1986). He is a born-again Christian.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Michael 1949 births Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Male actors from Memphis, Tennessee Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors