Michael O'Neill (born May 29, 1951) is an American

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

Early life and education

O'Neill was born and raised in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

. He attended Capitol Heights Junior High and Robert E. Lee High School, graduating in 1969. In high school he played basketball and was elected class beau and a class favorite. He graduated from

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

in 1974. While at Auburn, O'Neill was inducted as a brother of

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly referred to as Lambda Chi, is a fraternities and sororities, collegiate fraternity in North America. With over 300,000 initiates as of 2024, it is the third-largest social fraternity in the world by number of initia ...

. After attending Auburn, he spent time under the tutelage of actor

Will Geer Will Geer (born William Aughe Ghere; March 9, 1902 – April 22, 1978) was an American actor, musician, and social activist who was active in labor organizing and communist movements in New York City and Southern California in the 1930s and 1940 ...

and one of Geer's daughters, the actress Ellen Geer, at Theatricum Botanicum in Los Angeles before moving to New York to pursue his career there.

Career

With a career stretching through three decades, he usually portrays senior law enforcement or military officers. He played

Special Agent In the United States, a special agent is an official title used to refer to certain investigators or detectives of federal, military, tribal, or state agencies who primarily serve in criminal investigatory positions. Additionally, some special ...

Ron Butterfield, the head of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Josiah Bartlet's

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...

detail, on ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'', and CTU Administrative Director Richard Walsh in the first two episodes of '' 24''. He played Sgt. Maj. Ron Cheals in CBS' action drama series ''

The Unit ''The Unit'' is an American action-drama television series created by David Mamet that aired on CBS from March 7, 2006, to May 10, 2009, with the total of four seasons and 69 episodes. The series focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled ...

''. He starred in the Season 6 two-part finale of ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

'' as Gary Clark, the broken widower who holds the hospital hostage with a 9mm while pursuing the doctors responsible for unplugging his wife's life support. He portrayed Nick Ford on the second season of ''Bates Motel'', and Alan Sparks on ''Extant''. His most notable film performances occur in ''

Seabiscuit Seabiscuit (May 23, 1933 – May 17, 1947) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-hors ...

'', '' Secondhand Lions'', ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'', ''

Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 ''Dancer, Texas Pop. 81'' is a 1998 comedy-drama film starring Breckin Meyer, Peter Facinelli, Eddie Mills, and Ethan Embry. The film is set in the small, fictional Texas town of Dancer, with the titular reference to a population of 81 residents ...

'', ''

Traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

'', '' Sea of Love'', '' A Quiet Little Marriage'', '' Nothing but the Truth'', ''

Green Zone The Green Zone () is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It is a area in the Karkh, Karkh district of central Baghdad, Iraq. It is the chief government precinct and the seat of the Iraqi government. History Pre-200 ...

'', ''

J. Edgar ''J. Edgar'' is a 2011 American Biographical film, biographical drama film based on the career of Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, directed, produced and scored by Clint Eastwood. Written by Dustin Lance Black, the ...

'' (directed by Clint Eastwood), and ''

Dallas Buyers Club ''Dallas Buyers Club'' is a 2013 American biographical drama film written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. The film tells the story of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), a cowboy diagnosed with AIDS in ...

''.

Personal life

O'Neill splits his time between

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, where he lives with his wife, Mary, and three daughters, Ella, Annie, and Molly.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Michael 1951 births Living people American male film actors American male television actors Auburn University alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors People from Auburn, Alabama Male actors from Birmingham, Alabama Male actors from Montgomery, Alabama Actors from Lee County, Alabama