Michael Bowen (born June 21, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...

's romantic rival, Tommy, in the

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

Valley Girl A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, fr ...

'' (1983), Danny Pickett on the ABC series ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography * Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland *Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

'', and

Jack Welker ''Breaking Bad'' is a neo-Western crime drama franchise created by American filmmaker Vince Gilligan, primarily based on the television series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–13), its prequel/ sequel series, ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–22), and its ...

on the AMC series ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited h ...

''.

Early life

Bowen is the only son of

Beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...

painter Michael Bowen Sr. and actress Sonia Sorel (née Henius; 1921–2004) who was Bowen's first wife. His maternal great-grandfather was biochemist Max Henius, a Danish immigrant to America who himself was of Polish-Jewish descent, and his maternal great-grandmother was the sister of historian Johan Ludvig Heiberg. He grew up in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

knowing "interesting characters—revolutionary-type people," which inspired his portrayal of Uncle Jack on the AMC series ''

''. Through his mother's other marriage he is the half-brother of actors

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

and Keith Carradine of the

Carradine family Carradine is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: People Acting family *John Carradine, American actor **David Carradine, American actor, son of John Carradine ** Robert Carradine, American actor, son of John Carradine *** Ever Carr ...

. He is the half-uncle of actresses

Martha Plimpton Martha Plimpton (born November 16, 1970) is an American actress. Her feature-film debut was in ''Rollover'' (1981); she subsequently rose to prominence in the Richard Donner film '' The Goonies'' (1985). She has also appeared in '' The Mosquito ...

and

Ever Carradine Ever Dawn Carradine is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Tiffany Porter and Kelly Ludlow on the ABC television series ''Once and Again'' and '' Commander in Chief'', respectively and as Naomi Putnam and Janet Stein on the Hulu ...

Career

Besides his TV work and his appearance as Tommy in ''Valley Girl'', Bowen has more than 130 film credits to his name as of 2022, including ''

The Godfather Part III ''The Godfather Part III'' is a 1990 American crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from the screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo. The film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy García, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegn ...

'' (1990), ''

Beverly Hills Cop III ''Beverly Hills Cop III'' is a 1994 American action comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by John Landis, who had previously worked with Murphy on ''Trading Places'' and ''Coming to America''. It is the third film in the Beverly Hills C ...

'' (1994), ''

Jackie Brown ''Jackie Brown'' is a 1997 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, based on Elmore Leonard's 1992 novel '' Rum Punch.'' It stars Pam Grier as Jackie Brown, a flight attendant who is caught smuggling money. Samuel L. Jac ...

'' (1997), ''

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

'' (1999), ''

Kill Bill Volume 1 ''Kill Bill: Volume 1'' is a 2003 American martial arts film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Uma Thurman as the Bride, who swears revenge on a team of assassins (Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, and Vivica A. Fox) an ...

'' (2003), '' Walking Tall'' (2004), and ''

Django Unchained ''Django Unchained'' () is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Walton Goggins, Dennis C ...

'' (2012). On November 30, 2015, Fox announced he would play

Matches Malone Josephine MacDonald Josephine MacDonald, also known as Josie Mac, is a police officer of GCPD, first appearing in ''Detective Comics'' #763 (December 2001), created by Judd Winick and Cliff Chiang. Josie Mac had a promising career ahead of her, ...

on '' Gotham''. His most recently released film is ''

A Soldier's Revenge ''A Soldier's Revenge'' is a 2020 American Western film written and directed by Michael Feifer and starring Neal Bledsoe, Rob Mayes, AnnaLynne McCord and Val Kilmer. It was Jay Pickett's final film role before his death in July 2021. Cast *N ...

'', which was released in 2020.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, Michael 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors American people of Danish descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent Carradine family Living people Male actors from San Francisco American Ashkenazi Jews Jewish American male actors Place of birth missing (living people) 1953 births