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Michael Gross

 
Actor: Michael Gross
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Jun 21, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '80s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Tremors, Family Ties: Season 07, Family Ties: Season 06
  • First Major Screen Credit: Family Ties: Season 01 (1982)

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, All Movie Guide
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Michael Gross

Gross at the 39th Emmy Awards, September 1987
Born June 21, 1947 (1947-06-21) (age 62)
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Years active 1982–present

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 fatherly figure Steven Keaton from Family Ties and graboid hunter Burt Gummer from the Tremors film and television series.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Gross was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Virginia Ruth, a telephone operator, and William Oscar Gross, a tool designer.[1] 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 sister, Mary Gross, is a former Saturday Night Live cast member.[2]

Career

Gross is known for his role 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, in fact, drawn by Gross, himself. He also guest starred in an episode of the sitcom Night Court, in which he played a sexual predator to Markie Post's character, Christine Sullivan.

His other television credits include Boston Legal, How I Met Your Mother, Batman Beyond, ER, Law & Order, and two of its spin-offs: SVU and Criminal Intent.

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.

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, modeller, 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.[3] 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.[4] Beginning in 2009, Gross is the "celebrity spokesman" for the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.[5]


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.

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Michael Gross Biography (1947-)
  2. ^ Mary Gross
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Model Railroad Industry Association (2005), World's Greatest Hobby campaign keeps model railroading on the right track for the future. Retrieved October 7, 2005.
  5. ^ "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


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Michael Gross (actor)".  Read more