John Michael Beck Taylor (born February 4, 1949), commonly known as Michael Beck, is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Swan in '' The Warriors'' (1979) and Sonny Malone in '' Xanadu'' (1980).

Early life

Beck was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the third of nine children. He attended Memphis University School and then Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi on a football scholarship. While in college, he was a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity. After graduating with a degree in economics, he was one of 30 (out of 2,500) applicants chosen for London's

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

. Beck's stage credits, beginning with college, include ''

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...

'' (he was

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

), ''

Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job o ...

'' (he was

George Milton ''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job ...

), ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' (he was

Tybalt Tybalt () is a character in William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet''. He is the son of Lady Capulet's brother, Juliet's short-tempered first cousin, and Romeo's rival. Tybalt shares the same name as the character Tibert / Tybalt ''"th ...

), and ''

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams. An adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", the play was written by him between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his p ...

.''

Career

Beck is known predominantly for his roles as Swan in the action film '' The Warriors'' (1979), Sonny Malone in '' Xanadu'' (1980), Lieutenant Commander Dallas in '' Megaforce'' (1982), and Koda in ''

Triumphs of a Man Called Horse ''Triumphs of a Man Called Horse'' is a 1983 Western film directed by John Hough and written by Ken Blackwell and Carlos Aured. It is the second and final sequel to '' A Man Called Horse'' (1970), following ''The Return of a Man Called Horse ...

'' (1983). Both the ''Xanadu'' and ''Megaforce'' roles garnered him

Razzie The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

nominations, for Worst Actor and Worst Supporting Actor, respectively. Beck has appeared in other movies such as '' Warlords of the 21st Century'' (1982), ''

Wes Craven's Chiller ''Chiller'' (also known as ''Wes Craven's Chiller'') is a 1985 American made-for-television horror film directed by Wes Craven and written by J.D. Feigelson. It follows corporate executive Miles Creighton (Michael Beck), who dies and is cryonical ...

'' (1985), ''

Gone to Texas Gone to Texas (often abbreviated GTT), was a phrase used by Americans emigrating to Texas in the 19th century. During the Panic of 1819, many left the United States and moved there to escape debt. Moving to Texas, which at the time was part of M ...

'' (1986) as

James Bowie James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...

, and ''

Forest Warrior ''Forest Warrior'' is a 1996 American adventure film starring Chuck Norris and directed by Norris's brother Aaron Norris. The film was released on direct-to-video in the United States on November 5, 1996. The film is perhaps best known since late ...

'' (1996). Beck appeared as Hans Helms in the 1978 TV miniseries ''

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

'', and starred with

Michael Paré Michael Kevin Paré (born October 9, 1958) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films ''Eddie and the Cruisers'' (1983), '' Streets of Fire'' (1984), and '' The Philadelphia Experiment'' (1984), and on the series ''Starhun ...

in the CBS police drama ''

Houston Knights ''Houston Knights'' is an American crime drama television series set in Houston, Texas. The show ran on CBS from March 11, 1987 to June 7, 1988 and had 31 episodes. Summary The core of the series is the partnership between two very different c ...

'' (1987–1988). He appeared in television shows such as '' JAG'', ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the Texa ...

'', '' In the Heat of the Night'', as the Mars-born terrorist-turned-cyborg assassin Abel Horn in ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...

'' (episode " Spider in the Web"), and as Mr. Jones in the spin-off series ''

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were i ...

''. Beck has narrated numerous audiobooks of

John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas) is an American novelist, lawyer and former member of the 7th district of the Mississippi House of Representatives, known for his popular legal thrillers. According to the Am ...

's novels. He also narrated ''Confederates in the Attic'' by

Tony Horwitz Anthony Lander Horwitz (June 9, 1958 – May 27, 2019) was an American journalist and author who won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. His books include ''One for the Road: a Hitchhiker's Outback'', ''Baghdad Without a Map'', '' ...

, ''A Darkness More Than Light'' by

Michael Connelly Michael Joseph Connelly (born July 21, 1956) is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. Connelly is the bes ...

, ''State of the Union'' by

David Callahan David Callahan (born 1964/1965) is an American writer and editor. He is the founder and editor of ''Inside Philanthropy'', a digital media site, and Blue Tent Daily, which offers in-depth reporting on progressive organizations and the Democratic ...

, and the unabridged version of

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

's ''My Life''. He also reprised his role as Swan in 2005, lending his voice to the popular video game adaptation of ''The Warriors''.

Personal life

Beck married songwriter Carolyn "Cari" Louise Brendel in September 1980. They have two children, a son, Jesse (b. 1983), and a daughter, Ashley (b. 1986). He is a born-again Christian.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Michael 1949 births Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Male actors from Memphis, Tennessee Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors