Michael Rosenbaum

Michael Owen Rosenbaum (born July 11, 1972) is an American actor and podcaster. He is known for portraying Lex Luthor on the Superman television series ''Smallville'', a role that ''TV Guide'' included in their 2013 list of "The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time".

Rosenbaum is also known for portraying Martinex in ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2'', Parker in ''Urban Legend'', Adam/Adina in ''Sorority Boys'' and Dutch Nilbog on Fox's '' Breaking In''. He also has an extensive voiceover career in animation, such as his role of Wally West / The Flash in the DC Animated Universe series ''Justice League'' (2001–04) and its sequel ''Justice League Unlimited'' (2004–06). Between 2015 and 2016, he played the lead role and was an Executive Producer in the TV Land comedy series ''Impastor''.

He is also the lead singer of the band Sun Spin with his friend, guitarist Rob Danson. The band's first album, ''Best Days'' was released on February 9, 2021. Their new album, ''Never is what it is,'' will be released in January, 2023.

Early life

Rosenbaum was born in Oceanside, New York and raised in Newburgh, Indiana. His mother, Julie (née Eckstein), is a writer who published the book "Journey of a Lifetime." His father, Mark Rosenbaum, worked in pharmaceuticals. He is one of six children with two brothers, Eric and Adam, and a sister, Laurie. After his parents' divorce, his mother remarried sports reporter Gordon Engelhardt. His father remarried Alexis Pelegrino, with whom he had two daughters, Rosenbaum's half-sisters Ava and Lia. Lia died in 2020. His uncle is pet behaviorist Warren Eckstein. Rosenbaum is Jewish, and says he was "closer to religion" in New York than in Indiana.

He graduated from Castle High School in Newburgh, Indiana and from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, with a degree in theatre arts. Immediately after, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.

Career

Once in New York, Vincent Letizia, an MTV Networks intern spotted his 8×10 black-and-white photo in a batch of other casting submissions for a pilot called "Talk Girl". The pilot was never green-lighted, but Rosenbaum stood out as a newly discovered talent. A new MTV pilot was conceived specifically for Rosenbaum with the working title of ''The Michael Rosenbaum Project''. The project later became known as "Working Stiff" and covered Rosenbaum in a reality television setting as a temp, who would walk into a different job each day. The pilot featured Rosenbaum as a Cat filling in on Broadway's "Cats" musical, and as a zoo keeper filling in at the zoo, sweeping animal manure and the like. The pilot never took off with MTV executives.

In 2001, Rosenbaum received a Saturn Award for his portrayal of Lex Luthor on ''Smallville''. Continuing in the superhero genre, he played Wally West (a.k.a. the Flash) in the DC Comics animated series ''Justice League'', ''Static Shock'', and ''Justice League Unlimited'' as well as portraying a younger version of Wally West as Kid Flash in ''Teen Titans''. In the third season ''Justice League Unlimited'' episode "Great Brain Robbery", Rosenbaum reprised his role as Lex Luthor when his character was trapped in Clancy Brown's Lex Luthor's body. In February 2008, Rosenbaum confirmed that he would be leaving ''Smallville'' after the seventh season of the show. After many months of speculation and him first turning down the contract to return, it was announced on February 11, 2011 that Rosenbaum would return to ''Smallville'' for the two-hour series finale, which aired on May 13, 2011, with Rosenbaum reprising his role as Lex Luthor.

In 2012, Rosenbaum appeared in ''Hit and Run'', a movie that he made with his friends Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell. Michael portrayed the character Gil, a jealous ex-boyfriend from Annie's (Bell's character) past.

Rosenbaum has a few notable vocal impressions in his repertoire, Christopher Walken, Keanu Reeves, Rodney Dangerfield, Dudley Moore, John Malkovich, Harry Carey and Kevin Spacey. The makers of the DCAU have used these impressions in their work, having Rosenbaum do his Walken voice for Ghoul in '' Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker'' and his Spacey voice for Deadshot; Spacey coincidentally portrayed Lex Luthor in the film ''Superman Returns'', and Walken played Max Shreck in ''Batman Returns''. He wrote the original SyFy comedy series ''Saved By Zeroes''; yet was never picked up to series. He was also a regular in Fox's original sitcom '' Breaking In'' with Christian Slater.

In 2014, Rosenbaum made his feature-film directorial and writing debut with the comedy '' Back in the Day'', where he stars as an actor who returns to his hometown in Indiana for a class reunion. The movie was filmed in Newburgh and Evansville, Indiana and also starred Morena Baccarin, Nick Swardson and Harland Williams.

Prior to the production of ''Back in the Day'', Rosenbaum planned to direct another comedy film, titled ''Sorry is For Sissies''. The film had a cast including Jon Heder, Colin Hanks, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Seth Green and Nick Swardson, however, at least half of the film's budget was lost, and the film was scrapped.

On June 17, 2014, Rosenbaum was cast as the lead in the TV Land original sitcom ''Impastor''. The plot has been summarised as a "low-life who hides out in a small town by conning the residents into thinking he is their newly hired gay pastor". Rosenbaum was also an Executive Producer.

In 2017, Rosenbaum served as narrator for the reality television show '' Hunted'' which pitted investigators against teams of ordinary citizens trying to evade capture as fugitives.

In 2018, Rosenbaum debuted his casual celebrity interview-based podcast called ''Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum''. His first guest was his ''Smallville'' co-star Tom Welling. Since then his guests have included many celebrities such as Bob Odenkirk, Henry Winkler, Kiefer Sutherland, Judd Apatow, Kristin Bell and more. In July, 2022, Rosenbaum and Tom Welling launched the podcast ''Talkville,'' where they re-watch every episode of ''Smallville.''

On August 5, 2022, Rosenbaum confirmed that he will reprise the role of Martinex in '' Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'' which will be released in May 2023.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenbaum, Michael
1972 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American Jews
Living people
Male actors from Indiana
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
Jewish American male actors
People from Newburgh, Indiana
Actors from Evansville, Indiana
Writers from Evansville, Indiana
Western Kentucky University alumni