Michael Ensign (born February 13, 1944) is an American actor who mostly played very small roles. One of his most-known roles was

Benjamin Guggenheim Benjamin Guggenheim (October 26, 1865 – April 15, 1912) was an American businessman. He died aboard when the ship sank in the North Atlantic Ocean. His body was never recovered. Early life Guggenheim was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, t ...

in the 1997 film ''Titanic''.

Early life

Ensign was raised in both the United States and England. He trained at the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. It is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. LAMDA's Principal is ...

and spent the first ten years of his professional career working in the theatre in Britain.

Religion

Born into a family in

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

, he later became a member of the Episcopal Church, attending a parish which is in the

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglica ...

tradition.

Career

He was a member of the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

in the 1970s, appearing in productions of ''As You Like It'', ''Love's Labour's Lost'', and ''Cymbeline'' amongst others. He has appeared in ''

Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United State ...

'', ''

Curse of the Starving Class ''Curse of the Starving Class'' is a play by Sam Shepard, considered the first of a series on family tragedies. Some critics consider it part of a Family Trilogy that includes '' Buried Child'' (1979) and '' True West'' (1980).Simard, Rodney. “A ...

'', and ''

The Red Devil Battery Sign ''The Red Devil Battery Sign'' is a three-act play by American writer Tennessee Williams. He copyrighted the text in 1975 for its premiere in Boston, but revised the play in 1979; that later version was published by New Directions in 1988. Syno ...

'' in the West End. Ensign's film credits include ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...

'' (1978), '' Pink Floyd – The Wall'' (1982), ''

WarGames ''WarGames'' is a 1983 American science fiction techno-thriller film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film, which stars Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, and Ally Sheedy, follow ...

'' (1983), ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, thr ...

'' (1984), '' Dr. Hackenstein'' (1988),Dr. Hackenstein
".

Troma Entertainment Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them pl ...

. Retrieved February 6, 2010. ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unite ...

'' (1997), '' Solaris'' (2002), '' Bringing Down the House'' (2003), '' Down with Love'' (2003) and '' Seabiscuit'' (2003). Ensign's many television appearances include ''

Boston Legal ''Boston Legal'' is an American legal drama and comedy drama television series created by former lawyer and Boston native David E. Kelley, produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The series aired from October 3, 200 ...

'',

Three’s Company ''Three's Company'' is an American sitcom television series that aired for eight seasons on ABC from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984. It is based on the British sitcom ''Man About the House''. The story revolves around three single roomma ...

'',

Alias Alias may refer to: * Pseudonym * Pen name * Nickname Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film * ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006 * ''Alias the J ...

'', ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...

'', '' JAG'', ''

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...

'', ''

Star Trek: Enterprise ''Star Trek: Enterprise'', titled simply ''Enterprise'' for its first two seasons, is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. It originally aired from September 26, 2001, to May 13, 2005 on Uni ...

'', ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'', ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...

'', '' Star Trek: Voyager'', ''

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (abbreviated as ''DS9'') is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. The fourth series in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise, it originally aired in syndication from ...

'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', ''

MacGyver Angus "Mac" MacGyver is the title character and the protagonist in the TV series ''MacGyver''. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson in the 1985 original series. Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in the 2016 reboot. In both p ...

'', ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'', ''

Falcon Crest ''Falcon Crest'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired for nine seasons on CBS from December 4, 1981, to May 17, 1990. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Channing family in the California ...

'', ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. T ...

,'' ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court ma ...

'', and ''

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 ...

''. He appeared in the TV miniseries ''

The Winds of War ''The Winds of War'' is Herman Wouk's second book about World War II (the first being ''The Caine Mutiny''). Published in 1971, ''The Winds of War'' was followed up seven years later by ''War and Remembrance''; originally conceived as one volume, ...

'' and ''

Dream West ''Dream West'' is a 1986 American television miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain and directed by Dick Lowry. Development The seven-hour miniseries was broken into three parts (2 hours, 2 hours, and 3 hours). Part 1 aired on Sunday, April 13 ...

''. Ensign provided the voice of the villainous Doctor Nefarious Tropy in the video games '' Crash Bandicoot: Warped'', '' Crash Team Racing'', ''

Crash Nitro Kart ''Crash Nitro Kart'' is a 2003 kart racing game for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance; versions for the N-Gage and mobile phones were released in 2004. It is the second racing game in the ''Crash Bandicoot'' series after ' ...

'' and ''

Crash Twinsanity ''Crash Twinsanity'' is a 2004 platform video game for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Mobile. It is the eleventh installment in the ''Crash Bandicoot'' series and the fifth game in the main series. The game's story takes place three years after ...

''. His role of N. Tropy was later passed down to

Corey Burton Corey Gregg Weinberg (born August 3, 1955), known professionally as Corey Burton, is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Captain Hook, Ludwig Von Drake, Dale and others for The Walt Disney Company, Shockwave on '' The Transformer ...

, who voiced the character in '' Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex'', '' Crash Bandicoot: N-Sane Trilogy'', and ''

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled ''Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled'' is a 2019 kart racing game developed by Beenox and published by Activision. The game is a remastered version of '' Crash Team Racing'', which was originally developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation in 1999, ...

'', and then passed to

JP Karliak John Paul "JP" Karliak is an American actor and comedian. He is known for voicing characters, such as Linus in ''The Stinky & Dirty Show'' and Wile E. Coyote in '' Wabbit/New Looney Tunes'', Naysaya in the Disney XD animated series '' Star vs. th ...

, who currently voices the latter in '' Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time''. He gave his voice for Dr. Sebastian Wolfe in 2011 video game '' inFamous 2''. In 2009 Ensign was given the Distinguished Alumnus Award for Theatre from the College of Fine Arts at

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

. Writing in ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' in 2011,

David M. Ewalt David M. Ewalt (born 1976) is an American journalist and author. Ewalt is the author of the books ''Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It'' (2013) and ''Defying Reality: The Inside Story of the Virtual Reali ...

noted,

"Ensign is a classic example of "Hey! It's that guy!" --a versatile character actor with a long and illustrious career, but who you probably can't identify by name, or even where you've seen him"

before going on to list some of Ensign's key film appearances.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

Michael Ensign
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

*
Michael Ensign
(Aveleyman) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ensign, Michael American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors American people of British descent Living people Royal Shakespeare Company members 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 1944 births