Michael Anthony, (born Michael Gould, Jr.) also known by the stage name Mike Bless, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, and former serviceman in the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

. He is known for appearing in TV series such as ''

Raising Dion ''Raising Dion'' is an American superhero drama streaming television series that premiered on October 4, 2019 on Netflix. It is based on the 2015 comic book and short film of the same name by Dennis Liu. In January 2020, Netflix renewed the s ...

'', ''

Chicago Med ''Chicago Med'' is an American medical drama television series created by Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead, and is the third installment of Wolf Entertainment's ''Chicago'' franchise. The series premiered on NBC on November 17, 2015. ''Chicago Me ...

'', ''Big 50 – The Delronda Hood Story'', and ''Ready to Love''.

Early life

Anthony was born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

and was raised in Akron and

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. He eventually joined the military, achieving a rank of E-4/SRA in the U.S. Air Force. He was security forces during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Career

In 2008, Anthony entered Slip-n-Slide Records' "The Next Big Superstar" competition. He won the competition and was signed to a record deal under the stage name Mike Bless. As Mike Bless, he released the singles "Do It Like This" in 2009 and "Gone" in 2011. He also released a mixtape titled ''Mr. Make It Happen'' in 2009. Anthony began acting after doing production work on a film soundtrack. After meeting him, the film's director suggested him to audition for a role in the movie, which he was then cast in. Anthony was one of the contestants in the first season of OWN's reality television series ''Ready to Love'', which premiered in 2018. In 2020, Anthony guest-starred in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

series ''Kings of Jo'burg'', which was created and produced by Shona Ferguson. Anthony was also cast in a lead role in the short film ''She Had to Ask'', which premiered on Allblk in the same year. Anthony was cast as Ricky in the

BET+ A bet is a gambling wager. Bet or BET may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Bet Lynch, a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' * Elizabeth "Bet" Yeager, protagonist of ''Rimrunners'', a science fiction n ...

original film ''Big 50 – The Delronda Hood Story'', which premiered in 2021. Anthony was also cast in a recurring role as Gary Stafford in ''

''. Other television series that Anthony has appeared in include ''

'', '' Greenleaf'', ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'', ''

MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in the 2016 reboot. In both po ...

'', ''

Black Lightning Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character, created by writer Tony Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden, first appeared in ''Black Lightning'' #1 (April 1977), during ...

'', and ''

The Outsider The Outsider may refer to: Film * ''The Outsider'' (1917 film), an American film directed by William C. Dowlan * ''The Outsider'' (1926 film), an American film directed by Rowland V. Lee * ''The Outsider'' (1931 film), a film starring Joan Barr ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

;Singles ;Mixtapes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Michael Living people Male actors from Akron, Ohio Year of birth missing (living people)