Michael Kopelow

Michael Kopelow is an American actor, best known for his role as Joe Connolly; the "smarter than he seems" sidekick of Michael Hubbs in the cult favorite stoner film, "The Stoned Age" (1994).

Kopelow hasn't done much work before or since The Stoned Age. His only other role of note was as Kenny's stoner friend Hellhound in "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" (1991).

In 2005, after a 7-year hiatus from acting roles, Michael made guest appearances on the hit TV shows "Las Vegas", "Medium", and "The Comeback". In 2006, Kopelow made a guest appearance as a ticket taker on the cable television series "Nip/Tuck", and he also appeared in an episode of the Nickelodeon children's sitcom "Drake & Josh" as a delivery guy.

Kopelow has played a gas station attendant in two different tv series; CBS' shortlived "Johnny Bago" (1993) and NBC's hit "Medium", as well as the 1994 made for TV movie "Runaway Daughters".

Mike Kopelow is best known for starring as a low key but significant moral character "Joe" in the cult movie hit "The Stoned Age". The movie was initially produced as an AFI student project but obtained funding and was produced as a low budget film. It's hilarious and near-real life portrayals of teens during the early 70's earned it a cult status, and actually one of the best representations of the Southern California youth party scene in 1975. Many of the phrases and cuss words were used by teens of that era, but never featured in other teen films.

After the Stoned Age, Mike didn't do many other films until much later, choosing to pursue a musical career as a front man for his band "Captain Pants". The band was quite original and gained a good following in the Hollywood circuit, but never progressed beyond the So Cal boundaries. They played a mixture of pyschedelic funk latin beat music, and if that doesn't pique your interest, you had to hear them to realize just how innovative and exciting their music was. Mike was a capable lead singer, and shaving his long redhair to a medieval serf crop look, he hopped his small frame around the stage and wailed out the tunes to the delight of his audience.

Around 1998, he was contacted by Stephen Douglas, the author of the "Redhead Encyclopedia", while Douglas was writing his book on redhead facts. Douglas was a huge fan of "The Stoned Age" and Kopelow's redhaired character, Joe Connolly. Douglas then interviewed Kopelow for his book and his organization's newsletter, and Michael Kopelow was included in "The Redhead Encyclopedia" as a significant redhead celebrity making a cultural impact in America.

Kopelow has worked in the last several years on several television projects, and is still pursuing his acting career.

Filmography

*"Crash Dive" (1997)
*"One Good Turn" (1996)
*"The Stoned Age" (1994)
*"Point Break" (1991)
*"Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead" (1991)
*"The People Under the Stairs" (1991)

External links

*imdb name|id=0465742|name=Michael Kopelow