- Michael Rosenbaum
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Michael Rosenbaum 
Michael Rosenbaum, circa September 2010Born Michael Owen Rosenbaum
July 11, 1972
Oceanside, New York, U.S.Occupation Actor/Director Years active 1997–present Website http://www.michaelrosenbaum.com Michael Owen Rosenbaum (born July 11, 1972) is an American actor and director. He is best known for portraying Lex Luthor on the Superman-inspired television series Smallville and Dutch on FOX's Breaking In, and for providing the voice for the Flash in the DC animated universe. Rosenbaum has also done film and other voiceover work.
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Early life
Rosenbaum was born in Oceanside, New York, and raised in Newburgh, Indiana.[1] His mother, Julie, is a writer, and his father, Mark Rosenbaum, worked in pharmaceuticals.[2] He has a brother named Eric. He is Jewish, and was "closer to religion" in New York than in Indiana.[3] Rosenbaum graduated from Castle High School in Indiana and from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, with a degree in theatre arts. Immediately after, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.
Career
Rosenbaum at the BE Blow Out, August 2006
Once in New York, an MTV Networks intern named Vincent Letizia spotted his 8 x 10 black-and-white photo in a batch of other casting submissions for a pilot called "Talk Girl". The pilot was never green-lighted, but Rosenbaum stood out as a newly discovered talent. A new MTV pilot was conceived specifically for Rosenbaum with the working title of "The Michael Rosenbaum Project." The project later became known as "The Temp" and covered Rosenbaum in a reality television setting as a temp, who would walk into a different job each day. The pilot featured Rosenbaum as a Cat filling in on Broadway's "Cats" musical, and as a zoo keeper filling in at the zoo, sweeping animal manure and the like. The pilot never took off with MTV Executives. It was the mid 1990s before the mega boom of Reality TV and though the show was good, it was possibly before its time. This turned out to be a good thing for Rosenbaum who shortly thereafter left for Los Angeles where his talents could be showcased to a wider audience.[citation needed]
In 2001, Rosenbaum received a Saturn Award for his portrayal of Lex Luthor on Smallville, a role that caused him to drop out of Eli Roth's Cabin Fever at one time. Smallville was starting to hit its stride and schedules collided leaving Roth to fill the role himself. Continuing in the comic book genre, he played Wally West (a.k.a. The Flash) in the DC Comics animated series Justice League, Static Shock, and Justice League Unlimited as well as portraying a younger Wally West as Kid Flash in Teen Titans. In the third season Justice League episode "Great Brain Robbery", Rosenbaum reprised his role as Lex Luthor when his character was trapped in Clancy Brown's Lex Luthor's body. In February 2007, Rosenbaum confirmed that he would be leaving Smallville after season seven of the show, but later returned to the show's final episode of Smallville.
Rosenbaum has a few notable vocal impressions in his repertoire, including Christopher Walken, Keanu Reeves, and Kevin Spacey. The makers of the DCAU have used these impressions in their work, having Rosenbaum do his Walken voice for Ghoul in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and his Spacey voice for Deadshot; coincidentally, Spacey portrayed Lex Luthor in the film Superman Returns, and Walken played Max Shreck in Batman Returns. He is currently filming the SyFy comedy series Saved By Zeroes [4][5] and Breaking In.
After many months of speculation and him first turning down the contract to return, it was finally announced on February 11, 2011 that Rosenbaum would return to Smallville for the two-hour series finale, which aired on May 13, 2011[6] with Rosenbaum reprising his role as Lex Luthor.[7]
Personal life
Rosenbaum is an ardent New York Rangers fan and often plays in charity hockey games. His favorite band is Guns N' Roses. His favorite animal is a wolf. In an episode of MTV Cribs, Rosenbaum shows his love of singing, karaoke, exercising and Cap'n Crunch. He is left-handed. Rosenbaum often likes to play miniature golf. He was voted Sexiest Villain by TV Guide and People magazine voted him one of the sexiest men alive in 2006.
Filmography
Television
Year Project Role Other notes 1998 The Tom Show Jonathan Summers Episode: "The Talk" 1999 Rocket Power Sports Announcer Voice
Episode: "Super McVariel 900/Loss of Squid"1999–2000 Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane Jack Cooper Main Cast: 24 Episodes 1999–2001 Batman Beyond Terminal/Carter Wilson
Wendell
Ollie
Carl
Agent WestVoice
6 Episodes2000 The Wild Thornberrys Tom Ravenhearst Voice
Episode: "A Shaky Foundation"2000–2004 Static Shock Trapper
The Flash
SpeedtrapVoice
5 Episodes2001–2008, 2011 [6] Smallville Lex Luthor Main Cast: 152 Episodes
Special Guest: Season 10
Directed the 125th episode, titled "Freak"2001–2002 The Zeta Project Agent West Voice
8 Episodes2001, 2002 The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn Himself 2 Episodes 2001–2006 Justice League Wally West/The Flash Voice
54 Episodes2003 Player$ Himself Episode: Charlie's Angels Late Night with Conan O'Brien Himself 1 Episode 2004–2005 Jackie Chan Adventures Drago Voice
11 Episodes2005–2006 Teen Titans Kid Flash Voice
2 Episodes2005 The Tony Danza Show Himself 1 Episode Cribs Himself 1 Episode It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Colin Episode: "Gun Fever" Last Call with Carson Daly Himself 2 Episodes 2007 The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson Himself 1 Episodes 2008 PG Porn Charlie Brown Episodes: "Peanus", "A Very Peanus Christmas" 2009 Untitled Family Pilot[8] Derek Signed on for a currently untitled NBC family program Batman: The Brave and the Bold Deadman/Triad Boss Voice
Episode: "Dawn of the Dead Man!"2010 Saved by Zeroes Mikey Doyle Pre-production[9] 2011 Breaking In[10] Dutch Recurring Films
Michael Rosenbaum at the Jules Verne Adventures Film FestivalYear Project Role Other notes 1997 The Devil & the Angel The Devil The Day I Ran Into All My Ex-Boyfriends Bart Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil George Tucker 1998 1999 Brick Urban Legend Parker Riley 2000 Eyeball Eddie Skelley Short film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker Ghoul Provided Voice 2001 Sweet November Brandon/Brandy Rave Macbeth Marcus 2002 Poolhall Junkies Danny Sorority Boys Adam/Adina 2003 Special Fred Molinski Bringing Down the House Todd Gendler 2005 Cursed Kyle Uncredited Racing Stripes Ruffshodd Provided Voice 2007 Cutlass Background Extra #2 Short film Kickin' It Old Skool Kip Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight Tanis Half-Elven Provided Voice 2008 Shear Love [11] Short film 2009 Wing Man Rumored 2010 Father of Invention Eddie Catch .44 Brandon Ghild Brauly Gullivan Short film 2012 Justice League: Doom Barry Allen / The Flash Voice Video games
Year Project Role Other notes 2003 Gladius Valens Provided Voice 2006 Yakuza Akira Nishiki Provided Voice 2008 Dark Sector Hayden Tenno Provided Voice Cameos in animation/comic
- In the Justice League episode Tabula Rasa, Amazo, while looking for Lex Luthor, runs into a character which shares a striking resemblance to Michael Rosenbaum (the character has never been confirmed to be an intentional look-alike of Rosenbaum, though).
- In Justice League Unlimited #38: On page 10, Giganta and Flash are having a discussion while sitting on a billboard. It reads: INJURED? Call Rosenbaum and Associates (the person in the picture bears a strong resemblance to Michael Rosenbaum).
References
- ^ "Michael Rosenbaum Biography (1972-)". 2008. http://www.filmreference.com/film/86/Michael-Rosenbaum.html. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
- ^ http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/523348%7C0/Michael-Rosenbaum/
- ^ Kraus, Haggay (April 2002). "Smallville Interview". http://www.michaelrosenbaum.com/maariv.html. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
- ^ Kevin Coll. "TV News: Michael Rosenbaum and Syfy Team Up for Comedy Series Saved by Zeroes". FusedFilm. http://www.fusedfilm.com/2010/03/tv-news-michael-rosenbaum-and-syfy-team-up-for-comedy-series-saved-by-zeroes.
- ^ Jon Lachonis. "Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum Returning to TV". TV Overmind. http://www.tvovermind.com/smallville/smallvilles-michael-rosenbaum-returning-to-tv/20812.
- ^ a b Lynette Rice and James Hibberd (February 11, 2011). "'Smallville' scoop: Michael Rosenbaum will return for series finale". ew.com. http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/02/11/smallville-michael-rosenbaum-final/. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
- ^ "Michael Rosenbaum Returning to Smallville For Series Finale". TVGuide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/News/Michael-Rosenbaum-Smallville-1029232.aspx. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
- ^ "Missi Pyle joins NBC family pilot". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i2fea4bd91d0d44f9886e280e502989b9.
- ^ Saved by Zeroes at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "Breaking News: Fox Comedy Has Big Plans For Smallville Vet Michael Rosenbaum". TVLine. http://www.tvline.com/2011/01/breaking-news-fox-show-has-plans-for-smallville-vet-michael-rosenbaum.
- ^ Shear Love the Movie
External links
- Official Fan Website
- Michael Rosenbaum cast bio on The CW
- Russian Fan Website
- Michael Rosenbaum at the Internet Movie Database
Preceded by
John Shea
for Lois and ClarkActors portraying Lex Luthor
2001-2008
for SmallvilleSucceeded by
Kevin Spacey
for Superman ReturnsCategories:- 1972 births
- Actors from Indiana
- American film actors
- American Jews
- American television actors
- American voice actors
- Jewish actors
- Living people
- People from Evansville, Indiana
- People from Long Island
- Saturn Award winners
- Western Kentucky University alumni
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
