Mike Genovese (born Peter Michael Genovese on April 26, 1942 in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

) is an American actor.

Career

Genovese was born and raised in

to an Italian American family. Genovese earned a master's degree in drama at Eastern Illinois University and taught acting at Webster College from 1969 to 1973 before devoting himself to work as actor in Washington, D.C., where he met his future wife, TV/film actress

Ellen Crawford Ellen Ann Crawford (born April 29, 1951) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Nurse Lydia Wright on '' ER'' from 1994 through 2003 and then again in 2009 for the series finale. Crawford has also performed on stage, in ''A Touch ...

, Chicago, and later Los Angeles. A character actor known for playing heavies, Genovese has appeared in many films such as two

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...

billed vehicles, ''

Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling ''Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling'' is a 1986 American biographical comedy-drama film directed, produced by and starring Richard Pryor, who also wrote the screenplay with Paul Mooney and Rocco Urbisci. ''Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling'' w ...

'' (1986) and ''

Harlem Nights ''Harlem Nights'' is a 1989 American crime comedy-drama film starring and directed by Eddie Murphy, who also wrote. The film co-stars Richard Pryor, Michael Lerner, Danny Aiello, Redd Foxx (in his last film appearance before his death in 1991) ...

'', which also co-starred

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...

Redd Foxx John Elroy Sanford (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Foxx gained success with his raunchy nightclub act before and during the civil rights movement. ...

and

Della Reese Delloreese Patricia Early (July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017), known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a s ...

, and guest roles on TV series such as ''

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 ...

'', '' The Paper Chase'',''The Paper Chase,'' Season 2, Episode 11: "Burden of Proof" (YouTube)
/ref> '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', ''

Family Matters ''Family Matters'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on ABC on September 22, 1989, and ended on May 9, 1997. However it moved to CBS, where it was shown from September 19, 1997, to July 17, 1998. A spin-off of '' Perfect Strangers ...

'', ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble c ...

'', ''

Quantum Leap ''Quantum Leap'' is an American science fiction television series, created by Donald P. Bellisario, that premiered on NBC and aired for five seasons, from March 26, 1989, to May 5, 1993. The series stars Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a phys ...

'', '' Arli$$'', '' ER'', '' Chicago Hope'', and '' JAG''. In 1990 he was a cast member in the short lived series “The Flash” where he played Lt. Warren Garfield. For ''ER'', the long-running medical drama which aired on NBC, Genovese appeared in a recurring role as Officer Al Grabarsky, where he appeared opposite his real life wife, Crawford, who was as cast regular as Nurse Lydia Wright, his character's girlfriend. He appeared in twelve episodes of the series from 1994 through 2000.

Theater roles

In 1979, Genovese had a performance as Philip Marlowe at Chicago's Organic Theater in Stuart Gordon directed adaptation of Raymond Chandler's "The Little Sister." In 2005, he appeared as Rev. Tollhouse in ''The Book of Liz'' play by

Amy Sedaris Amy Louise Sedaris (; born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Most recently, she has appeared in both ''The Mandalorian'' (2019–2020) and '' The Book of Boba Fett'' (2022) as Peli Motto. She played Jerri Blank in the ...

and

David Sedaris David Raymond Sedaris (; born December 26, 1956) is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay " Santaland Diaries.” He published his first c ...

at the 2nd Stage Theatre, Hollywood.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Genovese, Mike 1942 births American male stage actors American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from St. Louis Eastern Illinois University alumni American people of Italian descent Living people