Michael Rosenbaum - Biography

Michael Owen Rosenbaum (born July 11, 1972) is an American actor and director. He is best known for portraying Lex Luthor on the Superman-inspired television series Smallville and Dutch on FOX's Breaking In, and for providing the voice for the Flash in the DC animated universe. Rosenbaum has also done film and other voiceover work.

Early life

Rosenbaum was born in Oceanside, New York, and raised in Newburgh, Indiana. His mother, Julie, is a writer, and his father, Mark Rosenbaum, worked in pharmaceuticals. He has a brother named Eric. He is Jewish, and was "closer to religion" in New York than in Indiana. Rosenbaum graduated from Castle High School in Indiana and from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, with a degree in theatre arts. Immediately after, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.

Career

Once in New York, an MTV Networks intern named Vincent Letizia spotted his 8 x 10 black-and-white photo in a batch of other casting submissions for a pilot called "Talk Girl". The pilot was never green-lighted, but Rosenbaum stood out as a newly discovered talent. A new MTV pilot was conceived specifically for Rosenbaum with the working title of "The Michael Rosenbaum Project." The project later became known as "The Temp" and covered Rosenbaum in a reality television setting as a temp, who would walk into a different job each day. The pilot featured Rosenbaum as a Cat filling in on Broadway's "Cats" musical, and as a zoo keeper filling in at the zoo, sweeping animal manure and the like. The pilot never took off with MTV Executives. It was the mid 1990s before the mega boom of Reality TV and though the show was good, it was possibly before its time. This turned out to be a good thing for Rosenbaum who shortly thereafter left for Los Angeles where his talents could be showcased to a wider audience.

In 2001, Rosenbaum received a Saturn Award for his portrayal of Lex Luthor on Smallville, a role that caused him to drop out of Eli Roth's Cabin Fever at one time. Smallville was starting to hit its stride and schedules collided leaving Roth to fill the role himself. Continuing in the comic book genre, he played Wally West (a.k.a. The Flash) in the DC Comics animated series Justice League, Static Shock, and Justice League Unlimited as well as portraying a younger Wally West as Kid Flash in Teen Titans. In the third season Justice League episode "Great Brain Robbery", Rosenbaum reprised his role as Lex Luthor when his character was trapped in Clancy Brown's Lex Luthor's body. In February 2007, Rosenbaum confirmed that he would be leaving Smallville after season seven of the show, but later returned to the show's final episode of Smallville.

Rosenbaum has a few notable vocal impressions in his repertoire, including Christopher Walken, Keanu Reeves, and Kevin Spacey. The makers of the DCAU have used these impressions in their work, having Rosenbaum do his Walken voice for Ghoul in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and his Spacey voice for Deadshot; coincidentally, Spacey portrayed Lex Luthor in the film Superman Returns, and Walken played Max Shreck in Batman Returns. He is currently filming the SyFy comedy series Saved By Zeroes and Breaking In.

After many months of speculation and him first turning down the contract to return, it was finally announced on February 11, 2011 that Rosenbaum would return to Smallville for the two-hour series finale, which aired on May 13, 2011 with Rosenbaum reprising his role as Lex Luthor.

Personal life

Rosenbaum is an ardent New York Rangers fan and often plays in charity hockey games. His favorite band is Guns N' Roses. His favorite animal is a wolf. In an episode of MTV Cribs, Rosenbaum shows his love of singing, karaoke, exercising and Cap'n Crunch. He is left-handed. Rosenbaum often likes to play miniature golf. He was voted Sexiest Villain by TV Guide and People magazine voted him one of the sexiest men alive in 2006.

Filmography

Television

Films

Video games

Cameos in animation/comic

• In the Justice League episode Tabula Rasa, Amazo, while looking for Lex Luthor, runs into a character which shares a striking resemblance to Michael Rosenbaum (the character has never been confirmed to be an intentional look-alike of Rosenbaum, though).
• In Justice League Unlimited #38: On page 10, Giganta and Flash are having a discussion while sitting on a billboard. It reads: INJURED? Call Rosenbaum and Associates (the person in the picture bears a strong resemblance to Michael Rosenbaum).

External links

• Official Fan Website
• Michael Rosenbaum cast bio on The CW
• Russian Fan Website