Michael Troy Worth (born January 13, 1965) is an American actor, martial artist, screenwriter, and director.

Early life

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1965, Worth is from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and Delaware Indian Native American heritage. As a child, he grew up near the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

before moving to

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

with his parents. At the age of 11, he directed his first film titled ''The Tire'' with a super 8mm camera he had spent his allowance on. He continued making short films and experimental video projects during his youth including ''The Toad Warriors'' and ''The Berkeley Junk Food Massacre''.

Career

Sometime later, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and earned a handful of bit parts in film and television including '' Pacific Blue'' and ''

Alien Nation ''Alien Nation'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Rockne S. O'Bannon (later known for ''Farscape''), comprising film, television, and other media productions about alien refugees living on Earth. The series began with ...

''. He lived with his dog in his truck for six months in Venice, California while trying to save money. Surviving on odd jobs and construction work, Worth accepted small parts and worked as a martial arts trainer for

George Lazenby George Robert Lazenby (; born 5 September 1939) is an Australian retired actor. Lazenby began his professional career as a model and had only acted in commercials when he was cast to replace the original James Bond actor, Sean Connery, playing ...

. His first leading role was in the independent action film '' Final Impact''.

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

labeled him a "promising newcomer". Signed to several films with PM Entertainment, he worked through a series of low-budget films before landing the role of "Tommy" on the

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

Acapulco H.E.A.T. ''Acapulco H.E.A.T.'' is a 1993 syndicated television series. It follows the adventures of the "Hemisphere Emergency Action Team" (H.E.A.T.), a group of top-secret agents based in Acapulco, Mexico, recruited by "C-5", a secret, inter-governmental ...

''. He was also one of the front-runners for the role of

Robin Robin most commonly refers to several species of passerine birds. Robin may also refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), inclu ...

in ''

Batman Forever ''Batman Forever'' is a 1995 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. It is the third installment of the ''Batman'' film series, acting as a standalone sequel to ''Batman Returns''. Directe ...

'', although the role ultimately went to

Chris O'Donnell Christopher Eugene O'Donnell (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor. After modeling and acting in numerous commercials as a teenager, he made his film debut in the comedy-drama film ''Men Don't Leave'' (1990). Following supporting roles in ...

. Worth ended up having a cameo alongside O'Donnell in one of the film's fight scenes. He also appeared in "The Storytellers" alongside

Tippi Hedren Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren (born January 19, 1930) is a retired American actress. Initially a fashion model, appearing on the front covers of ''Life'' and '' Glamour'' magazines (among others), she became an actress after being discovered by d ...

. In 2004, he wrote and directed a micro-budget experimental film, titled '' Killing Cupid''. It earned him a Best Director nomination at the Action On Film Film Festival in 2005 as well as "Best Fiction Film" at the "Hollywood Documentary and Fiction Film Festival" in 2006. He continued to act in a variety of small independent films while honing his skills as a filmmaker, ghostwriting for film and television, as well as directing second unit. Worth wrote the screenplays for and starred in the

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting ...

/western film ''

Dual Dual or Duals may refer to: Paired/two things * Dual (mathematics), a notion of paired concepts that mirror one another ** Dual (category theory), a formalization of mathematical duality *** see more cases in :Duality theories * Dual number, a nu ...

'' (2005) and the sci-fi/horror film '' Devil on the Mountain'' (2006). He also appeared in an episode of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

The King of Queens ''The King of Queens'' is an American television sitcom that ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007, with a total of 207 half-hour episodes spanning nine seasons. The series was created by Michael J. Weithorn and David Litt, who al ...

'' in 2005.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Worth, Michael 1968 births Living people Male actors from Philadelphia Film directors from Pennsylvania