Mike Genovese (born Peter Michael Genovese on April 26, 1942 in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

) is an American actor.

Career

Genovese was born and raised in

to an Italian American family. Genovese earned a master's degree in drama at

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University (EIU) is a public university in Charleston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradual ...

and taught acting at

Webster College Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri, United States. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. The university has an alumni net ...

from 1969 to 1973 before devoting himself to work as actor in Washington, D.C., where he met his future wife, TV/film actress

Ellen Crawford Ellen Ann Crawford (born April 29, 1951) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Nurse Lydia Wright on '' ER'' from 1994 through 2003 and then again in 2009 for the series finale. Crawford has also performed on stage, in ''A Touch ...

, Chicago, and later Los Angeles. A character actor known for playing heavies, Genovese has appeared in many films such as two

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Known for reaching a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, he is widely regarded ...

billed vehicles, ''

Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling ''Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling'' is a 1986 American biographical comedy-drama film directed, produced by and starring Richard Pryor, who also wrote the screenplay with Paul Mooney and Rocco Urbisci. ''Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling'' ...

'' (1986) and ''

Harlem Nights ''Harlem Nights'' is a 1989 American crime comedy drama film starring, written, and directed by Eddie Murphy. The film co-stars Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx (in his last film appearance before his death in 1991), Danny Aiello, Michael Lerner, Del ...

'', which also co-starred

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...

Redd Foxx John Elroy Sanford (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Foxx gained success with his raunchy nightclub act before and during the civil rights movemen ...

and

Della Reese Della Reese (born Delloreese Patricia Early; July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017) was an American singer, actress, television personality, author and ordained minister. As a singer, she recorded blues, gospel, jazz and pop. Several of her singl ...

, and guest roles on TV series such as ''

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy television series created by Gy Waldron that aired on CBS from January 26, 1979, to February 8, 1985, with a total of seven seasons consisting of List of The Dukes of Hazzard episodes, 147 ...

'', '' The Paper Chase'',''The Paper Chase,'' Season 2, Episode 11: "Burden of Proof" (YouTube)
/ref> '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', ''

Family Matters ''Family Matters'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC for eight seasons from September 22, 1989, to May 9, 1997, then moved to CBS for its ninth and final season from September 19, 1997, to July 17, 1998. A spin-of ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Quantum Leap Quantum leap or ''variation'', may refer to: In general * Quantum leap (physics), also known as quantum jump, a transition between quantum states ** Atomic electron transition, a key example of the physics phenomenon * Paradigm shift, a sudden ch ...

'', '' Arli$$'', '' ER'', ''

Chicago Hope ''Chicago Hope'' is an American medical drama television series created by David E. Kelley, that originally aired for six seasons on CBS from September 18, 1994, to May 4, 2000, with a total of 141 episodes. The series is set in a fictional pr ...

'', and '' JAG''. In 1990 he was a cast member in the short lived series ''The Flash'' where he played Lt. Warren Garfield. For ''ER'', the long-running medical drama which aired on NBC, Genovese appeared in a recurring role as Officer Al Grabarsky, where he appeared opposite his real life wife, Crawford, who was as cast regular as Nurse Lydia Wright, his character's girlfriend. He appeared in twelve episodes of the series from 1994 through 2000.

Theater roles

In 1979, Genovese had a performance as Philip Marlowe at Chicago's Organic Theater in a Stuart Gordon-directed adaptation of

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

's ''The Little Sister''. In 2005, he appeared as Rev. Tollhouse in ''The Book of Liz'' play by

Amy Sedaris Amy Louise Sedaris (; born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She played Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central comedy series '' Strangers with Candy'' (1999–2000) and the prequel film '' Strangers with Candy'' (2005), wh ...

and

David Sedaris David Raymond Sedaris ( ; born December 26, 1956) is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay " Santaland Diaries". He published his first col ...

at the 2nd Stage Theatre, Hollywood.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Genovese, Mike 1942 births American male stage actors American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from St. Louis Eastern Illinois University alumni American people of Italian descent Living people