Michael Nouri (born December 9, 1945) is an American screen and stage actor.
He is best known for his television roles, including
Dr. Neil Roberts on ''
The O.C.
''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. "O.C." is an initialis ...
'',
Phil Grey on ''
Damages
At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...
'',
Caleb Cortlandt on ''
All My Children
''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and i ...
'', Eli David in ''
NCIS'', and Bob Schwartz on ''
Yellowstone
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowstone ...
''. He is also known for his starring roles in the films ''
Flashdance
''Flashdance'' is a 1983 American romantic drama dance film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer who aspires to become a professional ballerina (Alex), alongside Michael Nouri playing her boyfriend a ...
'' (1983) and ''
The Hidden'' (1987), and has appeared in several Broadway and
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...
plays, including the original production of ''
Victor/Victoria
''Victor/Victoria'' is a 1982 musical comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards and starring Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, Alex Karras, and John Rhys-Davies. The film was produced by Tony Adams and sc ...
''.
He is a
Saturn Award
The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films bel ...
and
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ( ...
nominee.
Early life
Nouri was born in Washington D.C. to Gloria (née Montgomery) and Edmond Nouri.
[That Guy in Flashdance]
. ''Observer
An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment.
Observer may also refer to:
Computer science and information theory
* In information theory, any system which receives information from an object
* State observer in con ...
''. February 16, 2004. Edmond was an
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
i immigrant from
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
who arrived in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
on a
Georgetown University scholarship, enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II, and became a writer for ''
Stars and Stripes'' and ''The New Yorker''.
Nouri grew up in New York City and Alpine, New Jersey. At age 14, after repeatedly getting into fights at school, he was transferred to an all-boys boarding school in Connecticut,
Avon Old Farms School
, motto_translation = Aspiring and Persevering
, address = 500 Old Farms Road
, city = Avon
, state = Connecticut
, zipcode = 06001
, country = United St ...
, where he became student-body president, and decided to be an actor after starring in a
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which '' H.M.S. Pin ...
play. He attended Rollins College and Emerson College, worked as a waiter, then landed his first role on Broadway in 1967. He was briefly a student under
Prem Rawat
Prem Pal Singh Rawat (born 10 December 1957), formerly known as Maharaji, is an international speaker and book-author. His teachings include a meditation practice he calls "Knowledge", and peace education based on the discovery of personal re ...
and was involved in his three-day festival
Millennium '73
Millennium '73 was a three-day festival held on November 8–10, 1973 at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, United States, by the Divine Light Mission (DLM). It featured Prem Rawat, then known as Guru Maharaj Ji, a 15-year-old guru and the leader ...
.
Career
After starring in an
off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...
production of ''
The Crucible
''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as an ...
'', Nouri landed his first Broadway role in ''
Forty Carats
''Forty Carats'' is a play by Jay Presson Allen. Adapted from the French original by Pierre Barillet and Jean-Pierre Gredy, the comedy revolves around a 40-year-old American divorcee who is assisted by a 22-year-old when her car breaks dow ...
'', which ran for two years. He made his film debut in 1969, with an uncredited role in ''
Goodbye, Columbus''. He appeared on several television soap operas, and was nominated for a
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ( ...
for his role as Steve Kaslow on ''
Search for Tomorrow
''Search for Tomorrow'' is an American television soap opera. It began its run on CBS on September 3, 1951, and concluded on NBC, 35 years later, on December 26, 1986.
Set in the fictional town of Henderson in an unspecified state, the show focu ...
''. He portrayed
Lucky Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrumenta ...
in the miniseries ''
The Gangster Chronicles'' and its theatrically released feature film ''
Gangster Wars''. In 1979, he appeared in the episode "The Curse of Dracula" of the series ''Cliffhangers''.
In 1983, he had a starring role as Nick Hurley in the romantic drama ''
Flashdance
''Flashdance'' is a 1983 American romantic drama dance film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer who aspires to become a professional ballerina (Alex), alongside Michael Nouri playing her boyfriend a ...
''. Despite mixed reviews, the film was one of the highest-grossing films of 1983, and was nominated for several top awards, winning an
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...
.
Nouri has appeared in numerous television series and television films. He starred opposite
Kyle MacLachlan
Kyle Merritt MacLachlan (; ' McLachlan, February 22, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dale Cooper in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and its film prequel '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992), as well as roles ...
in the horror film ''
The Hidden''. He starred on the short-lived series ''
Bay City Blues
''Bay City Blues'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on NBC from October 25 to November 15, 1983. The series stars Michael Nouri, Dennis Franz, and Pat Corley, and was created and produced by Steven Bochco. Eight episode ...
'' and ''
Downtown
''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...
'', and on the sitcom ''
Love & War''. He starred in the Broadway production of the musical ''
Victor/Victoria
''Victor/Victoria'' is a 1982 musical comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards and starring Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, Alex Karras, and John Rhys-Davies. The film was produced by Tony Adams and sc ...
'' as King Marchan, opposite
Julie Andrews
Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...
. He appeared in three separate entries of ''
Law & Order
''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise.
''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...
'', each time in different roles. He had recurring roles on the series ''
The O.C.
''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. "O.C." is an initialis ...
'', ''
Damages
At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...
'', ''
NCIS'', and ''
Army Wives
''Army Wives'' is an American drama television series that followed the lives of four army wives, one army husband, and their families. The series premiered on Lifetime on June 3, 2007, and ran for seven seasons, ending on June 9, 2013. The s ...
''. He returned to soap operas with a year-long stint on ''
All My Children
''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and i ...
''. More recently, he had a recurring role on the series ''
Yellowstone
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowstone ...
'' for three seasons.
Personal life
Nouri has been married and divorced twice. His first marriage was to Lynn Goldsmith and his second marriage was to Vicki Light. He has two daughters, Hannah and Jennifer. He is an ambassador of the
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) is a nonprofit organization that was founded in New York City as the Association for Advancement of Research on Multiple Sclerosis on March 11, 1946 by Sylvia Lawry. Ms. Lawry was a lawyer looking fo ...
as a result of one of his ex-wives being affected by the condition.
Filmography
Film
Television
Stage (partial)
Awards and nominations
Daytime Emmy Award
* 1976
: ''
Search for Tomorrow
''Search for Tomorrow'' is an American television soap opera. It began its run on CBS on September 3, 1951, and concluded on NBC, 35 years later, on December 26, 1986.
Set in the fictional town of Henderson in an unspecified state, the show focu ...
'' (nominated)
Saturn Awards
* 1988
Saturn Award for Best Actor
The Saturn Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were dev ...
:
''The Hidden'' (nominated)
Sitges Film Festival
* 1987
Sitges Film Festival
The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...
Best Actor:
''The Hidden'' (won)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nouri, Michael
1945 births
American male film actors
American male musical theatre actors
American male soap opera actors
American male television actors
American people of Iraqi descent
Emerson College alumni
Living people
Male actors from Washington, D.C.
Rollins College alumni
American artists of Arab descent
Avon Old Farms alumni