Michael Roof (November 24, 1976 – June 9, 2009) was an American actor and comedian.

Early life

Roof was born on November 24, 1976, at a

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

hospital at

MacDill Air Force Base MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida. The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, to Jean and Michael Roof Sr. He had two brothers and two sisters. Roof attended Reese AFB Elementary, in Lubbock, Texas, then Frenship Intermediate and Frenship Jr. High, in

Wolfforth, Texas Wolfforth ( ) is a small town located in Lubbock County. The town was named for 2 brothers, George Wolffarth who was a rancher in the area, and Eastin Wolffarth who was Lubbock County Sherriff around 1900. The population was 3,670 at the 2010 cens ...

, just outside Lubbock. While in eighth grade the Roof family moved to Yokota Air Base in Japan. Roof toured American comedy clubs with a stage name of "Chicken." He was especially popular in college town comedy clubs such as 'Deja Vu' in Columbia, Missouri. Under the stage name Chicken he became an underground sensation. Leaving audiences wanting more, even when he was the opener. This led him to getting his own headlining spots and a devoted fan base that helped launch his film and TV career. In 2000, he had a central part in the

WB Network The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...

sketch comedy TV series '' Hype'', but it was canceled after its first season. After ''Hype'', Roof moved to Hollywood, California to pursue a film career. He landed a number of film roles in big-budget Hollywood productions. Some of these roles include Private John Maddox of the

U.S. Army Rangers United States Army Rangers, according to the US Army's definition, are personnel, past or present, in any unit that has the official designation "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the US Army Ranger School, even if t ...

in '' Black Hawk Down'', Dil Driscoll in ''

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television serie ...

'', and

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collect ...

Agent Toby Lee Shavers in '' XXX'' and its sequel '' XXX: State of the Union''. Due to his death, Shavers doesn't appear in the 2017 sequel '' XXX: Return of Xander Cage'';

Nina Dobrev Nikolina Kamenova Dobreva ( bg, Николина Каменова Добрева, ; born January 9, 1989), credited professionally as Nina Dobrev ( ), is a Canadian actress. She is best known for portraying Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce o ...

took over as Shavers' replacement Becky Clearidge. In 2006, Roof was given his own

Spike Channel Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was or ...

reality TV show, '' Raising the Roofs''. The program, which ran for six episodes, followed the misadventures of his self-described "Florida cracker" dad, Michael, Sr., and his uncle, while they visited Roof at his home in Hollywood.

Personal life and death

After his television series '' Raising the Roofs'' was cancelled in 2006, Roof moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

with his wife, Megan, and their two sons. In the early morning of June 9, 2009, Roof's wife contacted police and reported him missing. Several hours later, his body was found hanged from a tree in a wooded area near a

Snellville, Georgia Snellville is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States, east of Atlanta. The population was 18,242 at the 2010 census, and in 2019 the estimated population was 20,077. It is a developed suburb of Atlanta and a part of the Atlanta metro ...

, elementary school parking lot. Roof reportedly suffered from depression,

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

, and

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

, and had been despondent about family finances. He is buried at Dunnellon Memorial Gardens in

Dunnellon, Florida Dunnellon is a city with the unique feature of sitting in 3 counties in Marion, Levy & Citrus counties in Florida, United States. The predominant part falls in the Marion county. The population was 1,928 at the 2020 census, up from 1,733 in 201 ...

.Funeral services for actor Michael Roof to be Saturday in Dunnellon
. ocala.com, June 12, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-06-15.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roof, Michael 1976 births 2009 deaths Male actors from Florida American sketch comedians American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Tampa, Florida People with bipolar disorder Suicides by hanging in Georgia (U.S. state) People from Snellville, Georgia Burials in Florida 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors American expatriates in Japan 2009 suicides