Michael C. HallBirth Place: Raleigh, North Carolina, USA Date of Birth: February 1, 1971 Heritage: American Famous for: His role as David Fisher on HBO's Six Feet Under Contact Michael C. Hall |
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Dexter Background: Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominated American actor Michael C. Hall was already well known in the world of theater with extensive credits in off-Broadway and Broadway productions like “Macbeth,” “Cymbeline,” “Corpus Christi” and “Cabaret” before hitting the big time as undertaker David Fisher on the popular HBO drama series “Six Feet Under” (2001-2005). In his debut show, the North Carolina native shared Screen Actor Guild Awards in 2003 and 2004 and picked up AFI Award and Emmy nominations for his performance. He then enjoyed success as the forensic diagnostician and serial killer in the Showtime series “Dexter” (2006-2009), from which he won a Saturn Award, a Television Critics Association Award, a Satellite Award and Golden Globe and Screen Actor Guild nominations. On his character in the series, he said, “I think Dexter is a man who a part of himself is very much frozen or arrested in a place that is pre-memory, pre-conscious, pre-verbal. Something very traumatic happened to him. He doesn't know what that is and I think on some level he wants to know. He denies his humanity. He describes himself as someone who is without feeling and yet I think that he maybe suspects, in a way that maybe isn't even conscious yet when we first meet him, that he is in fact a human being.” Hall also acted in the film “Paycheck” (2003) and the TV movie “Bereft” (2004). In 2009, he starred opposite Gerard Butler, Logan Lerman, John Leguizamo, Alison Lohman and Kyra Sedgwick in the thriller movie “Gamer” (2009), which was written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. As for his private life, Hall is married to actress Jennifer Carpenter, who played his adopted sister in “Dexter.” He was previously married to actress Amy Spanger (2002-2006).
Childhood and Family: Michael Carlyle Hall was born on February 1, 1971, in Raleigh, North Carolina. His father, William Hall, who worked for IMB, died from prostate cancer in 1982. After the death, his mother Janice Hall, who was a guidance counselor, completed her doctorate in education. She works in a high school in North Carolina. After graduating high school, Michael, who originally wanted to be a lawyer, attended the liberal art school Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. He began taking acting lessons and eventually graduated as a theater major in 1993. He went on to receive a Master's Degree of fine art from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Hall married actress Amy Spanger in May 2002. After their wedding, the couple performed together in the Broadway musical “Chicago.” They divorced in 2006. On December 31, 2008, Hall married actress Jennifer Carpenter. They had worked together in the series “Dexter.”
Career: Holding a Master's Degree from NYC's Tisch School of the Arts, Michael C. Hall first discovered acting in the second grade. Three years later, he joined a boy's choir and in high school appeared in several musicals, including “Fiddler on the Roof,” “The Sound of Music” and “Oklahoma.” He also toured in Austria for 10 weeks as part of a choir. Hall did not consider acting as a career until he relocated to New York. Hall performing in the off-Broadway productions of “Timon of Athens” and “Henry V,” which starred Andre Braugher, for the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1996. His first major New York City stage role arrived when he was cast as Malcolm in a production of “Macbeth,” which was produced by Alec Baldwin. He received additional notice with his roles in “Cymbeline” (played Posthumous) at the Delacorte Theater and the controversial play “Corpus Christi,” (as the Apostle Peter) at the Manhattan Theatre Club. In 1999, Hall enjoyed a big break when he performed in a workshop performance of Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Wiseguys,” which later transformed into “Bounce” for its Broadway run. Under the direction of Sam Mendes, he interpreted the role of Paris Singer, who was shifted to the character Hollis Bessamer in the play's final version. Also in 1999, Hall was reunited with Mendes for the hit Broadway show “Cabaret,” where he succeeded Alan Cumming in the role of the flamboyant Emcee. He also appeared in “The English Teachers” at the Manhattan Class Company and “Skylight” at the Mark Taper Forum. Thanks to his partnership with Mendes, Hall eventually made his onscreen debut when he won a regular role in the TV series “Six Feet Under,” which was created by Alan Ball who wrote the script of 1999’s “American Beauty,” which was directed by Mendes. When Ball was gathering cast members for the drama series, Mendes advised Hall of the role of David Fisher, the middle sibling who manages an undertaking business for his family. Debuting in 2001, the HBO show won the hearts of audiences and critics and enjoyed success until 2005. For his performance, Hall was nominated for an Emmy in 2002 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and a 2002 AFI for Actor of the Year. He also jointly won two out of five Screen Actors Guild nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. In 2002, Hall also took on the small role of Billy Flynn in the Broadway production “Chicago,” in which he acted with Amy Spangler. The following year, he appeared in the John Woo science fiction thriller “Paycheck,” which saw him as an FBI agent searching for a computer mastermind (played by Ben Affleck). He followed it up with another small role in the TV film “Bereft” (2004), which starred Vinessa Shaw. In 2005, he revisited the off-Broadway realm starring in “Mr. Marmalade” at the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York. After “Six Feet Under” went off the air, Hall waited for over a year to appear in his next television show. Impressed by the script, the award winning actor agreed to star as a Miami Police forensics scientist who moonlights as a serial killer of outlaws in the Showtime series “Dexter” (2006-2009). The series also starred Julie Benz, Jennifer Carpenter and Erik King, among others. Delivering an outstanding acting job, Hall took home a 2007 Saturn and Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Television Series and a Television Critics Association for Individual Achievement in Drama. In addition, he was handed Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series-Drama (2007 and 2008) and Screen Actor Guild nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series (2007 and 2008). Outside of the series, Hall emerged as a narrator for such History Channel programs as 2006’s “Civil War Terror” special, the “Cannibalism Secrets Revealed” special and “Mysteries of the Freemasons” (both 2007). In 2009, Hall starred opposite Gerard Butler, Logan Lerman, John Leguizamo, Alison Lohman and Kyra Sedgwick in the thriller movie “Gamer” (2009), which was written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. He will also star in Barry W. Blaustein’s “Peep World” and Michael Knowles’ “East Fifth Bliss” (both 2010).
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