Michael John Harney is an American actor of film, television, and theater. He is best known for starring on the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

original series ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Pr ...

'' as Corrections Officer

Sam Healy Sam Healy is an Australian actress most known for her work portraying Jazmina Hillerman on '' All Saints'', an Australian hospital drama. She has also acted as an extended guest regular on ''Blue Heelers'' and ''McLeod's Daughters ''McL ...

. In 2019, he had a recurring role in the

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

series '' For All Mankind''.

Early life

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Harney went on to study under acting teachers William Esper and Phil Gushee, both of whom studied and taught with

Sanford Meisner Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905 – February 2, 1997) was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an approach to acting instruction that is now known as the Meisner technique. While Meisner was exposed to method acting at the Group ...

for many years at The Neighborhood Playhouse School Of The Theater. After studying acting for 7 years he went on to run The Michael Harney Acting Studio in New York City for 8 years. During his time in New York City, Harney acted in and/or directed more than 80 plays and one acts and starred in ''On The Waterfront'' on Broadway playing the role of Charlie Malloy.

Career

Throughout Harney's television career, he has performed in numerous blockbuster films such as ''

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'' and ''

Ocean's Thirteen ''Ocean's Thirteen'' is a 2007 heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien. It is the third in the ''Ocean's'' film trilogy and a sequel to ''Ocean's Twelve'' (2004). The film features an en ...

''. Before starring on ''

'', Harney starred as Detective Mike Roberts in the award-winning television police drama ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble ca ...

'' and also in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

historical drama series ''

Deadwood Deadwood may refer to: Places Canada * Deadwood, Alberta * Deadwood, British Columbia * Deadwood River, a tributary of the Dease River in northern British Columbia United States * Deadwood, California (disambiguation), several communit ...

'' as Steve Fields. Harney first worked with ''Orange Is The New Black'' creator

Jenji Kohan Jenji Leslie Kohan (born July 5, 1969) is an American television writer and producer. She is best known as the creator and showrunner of the Showtime comedy-drama series ''Weeds'' and the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black''. S ...

on the Showtime original dark comedy ''

Weeds A weed is an unwanted plant of any species. Weed or weeds may also refer to: Places * Weed, Arkansas, an unincorporated community in the United States * Weed, California, a city in the United States * Weed, Kentucky, an unincorporated communit ...

'', starring opposite

Mary-Louise Parker Mary-Louise Parker (born August 2, 1964) is an American actress. After making her Broadway debut as Rita in Craig Lucas' '' Prelude to a Kiss'' in 1990 (for which she received a Tony Award nomination), Parker came to prominence for film roles ...

as Detective Mitch Ouellette. In 2015, Harney returned to his film roots in the independent drama, '' Bad Hurt,'' which had its world premiere at the 2015

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

. Set in 1999, ''Bad Hurt'' chronicles Ed Kendall's (Harney) struggle with PTSD as a proud war veteran and father to son (Theo Rossi) and mentally ill adult daughter (Iris Gilad), and the challenges each of them face during the constant pursuit of maintaining a normal family dynamic.

Personal life

He has one son.

Filmography

Film

Television

2025

The Better Sister ''The Better Sister'' is an American thriller television limited series created by Olivia Milch and starring Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks. It is based on the 2019 novel by Alafair Burke. The series premiered on May 29, 2025, on Prime Video ...

Video games

References

External links

* * * *
Interview in Queens Tribune, July, 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harney, Michael 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Living people American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors Male actors from the Bronx 1956 births