Michael Gross
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Michael Gross
Biography
A product of a blue-collar Chicago neighborhood, actor Michael Gross spent the first two years of high school as (by his own admission) a "greaser" and gang member. He straightened himself out in his last two years, graduating as senior class president and National Honor Society member. Gross played guitar with a folksinging group before gravitating to the theatre. He attended the Yale School of drama (one of his classmates was Meryl Streep), then worked in regional theatre before landing in New York. In 1982, Gross was cast as Steven Keaton, ex-radical patriarch of a clan that included Michael J. Fox and Justine Bateman, in the long-running sitcom Family Ties. Perhaps chafing a bit at the press attention given to his co-star Fox, Gross took every available opportunity to play an image-busting role, notably the scuzzy, cold-blooded killer in the 1985 TV movie In the Line of Duty: The FBI Wars. Michael Gross is the brother of comedienne and former Saturday Night Live regular Mary Gross. ~ Hal Erickson, RoviFilmography:
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Michael Gross
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Sometimes They Come Back... Again Buy this Movie |
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In the Heat of Passion 2: Unfaithful Buy this Movie |
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Michael Gross (actor)
| Michael Gross | |
|---|---|
 Gross at the 39th Emmy Awards, September 1987 |
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| Born | June 21, 1947 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Spouse | Elza Bergeron |
Michael Gross (born June 21, 1947) is an American television, movie, and stage actor who plays both comedic and dramatic roles. His most notable roles are as the father Steven Keaton from Family Ties and the Graboid hunter Burt Gummer from the Tremors franchise.
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Early life
Gross was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Virginia Ruth (née Cahill), a telephone operator, and William Oscar Gross, a tool designer.[1] Coincidentally, Gross and his Family Ties co-star Meredith Baxter (who played his wife Elyse Keaton), were born on the same date, June 21, 1947.[2] He attended high school at Kelvyn Park High School on the north side of Chicago. He received his drama degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago before attending Yale University for his Master of Fine Arts degree. His younger sister, Mary Gross, is a former Saturday Night Live cast member.[3]
Career
Gross is known for his roles as "Steven Keaton" in the 1980s sitcom Family Ties and as "Burt Gummer" in the Tremors movies and subsequent TV series. The sketch of the Keaton Family during the opening sequence of Family Ties was drawn by Gross. He guest-starred in an episode of the sitcom Night Court, in which he played a sexual predator of Markie Post's character, Christine Sullivan.
His other television credits include Boston Legal, How I Met Your Mother, Batman Beyond, ER, Parks and Recreation (1 episode), Law & Order, and two of its spin-offs: SVU and Criminal Intent.
From August 2008 to January 2009, Gross appeared on the CBS soap The Young And The Restless as River Baldwin.
Gross had a special cameo in 2000 on Spin City as a therapist to Michael J. Fox's character on Fox's final show as a regular on that program.
For Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001) he received a Video Premiere Award as best actor.
Personal life
Gross has been married to casting director Elza Bergeron since June 2, 1984, and they have two children.
Gross is a passionate railfan with an extensive collection of railroad antiques. He is an amateur railroad historian, photographer, modeler, and part-owner in a working railroad, the Santa Fe Southern Railway, a former branch line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway which operates between Lamy and Santa Fe, New Mexico.[4] He is also the spokesman for the World's Greatest Hobby campaign sponsored by the Model Railroad Industry Association that promotes the hobby of model railroading. He has also been a spokesperson for Operation Lifesaver, a campaign promoting safety at railroad grade crossings.[5] Beginning in 2009, Gross is the "celebrity spokesman" for the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.[6]
Credits
| Acting in film and television | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1982–1989 | Family Ties | Steven Keaton | TV series |
| 1987 | Dorothy Meets the Tin Man | ||
| 1988 | In the Line of Duty: The F.B.I. Murders | ||
| 1988 | Big Business | ||
| 1990 | Tremors (film) | Burt Gummer | |
| 1991 | Cool as Ice | ||
| 1992 | Alan & Naomi | ||
| 1993 | Batman: The Animated Series | Lloyd Ventrix | |
| 1993 | The Story of Peanut Butter | ||
| 1994 | Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story | Television film | |
| 1994 | Never ask The Devil to Pack a Lunch | ||
| 1995 | Deceived By Trust | ||
| 1996 | Tremors 2: Aftershocks | Burt Gummer | |
| 1996 | Sometimes They Come Back... Again | ||
| 1998 | Ground Control | ||
| 1999 | Batman Beyond | Warren McGinnis | |
| 2001 | The Undesirable | Television film | |
| 2001 | Tremors 3: Back to Perfection | Burt Gummer | |
| 2002 | ER | TV Series | |
| 2002 | Law and Order SVU | 1 episode (season 4.4) | |
| 2003 | The Power of Aluminum Foil | TV series | |
| 2003 | Super Chief: Speed-Style-Service | narrator | |
| 2004 | Tremors 4: The Legend Begins | Hiram Gummer | |
| 2004 | Combustion | ||
| 2006 | Dome Car Magic: A History Of Railroad Dome Cars | narrator | |
| 2006-2011 | How I Met Your Mother | Alfred Mosby | 3 episodes |
| 2008 | 100 Million BC | ||
| 2008-2009 | The Young and the Restless | TV serial | |
| 2010 | Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! | ||
| 2010 | Psych | Cody Blair | Episode: "Dead Bear Walking" |
| 2010 | Parks and Recreation | Michael Tansley | Episode: Summer Catalog |
| 2011 | Dan Vs. | Don | Animated Series |
| 2011 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | 1 episode (season 8.4) | |
References
- ^ Gross, Virginia Ruth - Chicago Tribune
- ^ Michael Gross Biography (1947-)
- ^ Mary Gross
- ^ Hall, Ken; Southeastern Antiquing and Collecting Magazine (2003), The Celebrity Collector - Michael Gross, his family tree and his collections are rooted in the railroad. Retrieved October 7, 2005.
- ^ Model Railroad Industry Association (2005), World's Greatest Hobby campaign keeps model railroading on the right track for the future. Retrieved October 7, 2005.
- ^ "What's Here– A message from Michael Gross". B&O Railroad Museum. 2009. http://www.borail.org/michael-gross.shtml. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
External links
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