Michael Fishman Biography

Michael Aaron Fishman (born October 22, 1981) is an American actor best known for playing D.J. Conner on the long-running series Roseanne.

Personal life

Fishman was born in Los Angeles, California. Fishman is now married and has two children.

Career

Roseanne: 1988-1997

Fishman's acting career began after he met Roseanne Barr during an early audition. She asked him to tell her a joke. He said, "Why did the turtle cross the road? ... Chicken's day off." She was impressed, and although he had no experience, Barr fought for Fishman to play D.J. Conner. He worked on Roseanne from age six to fifteen.

Post-Roseanne work: 1997-2000

After nine seasons, Roseanne ended in 1997. Fishman lamented, "the end of the show was one of the hardest times of my life. I was devastated. The cast and crew were my family. I'll always love so many of those people. They shaped me as a person and made me who I am".

Fishman continued to act while attending the Orange County High School of the Arts at Los Alamitos High School in the Musical Theater and Technical Theater departments.

He appeared in guest roles on Walker, Texas Ranger and Seinfeld, and earned a recurring role alongside Andrew Dice Clay on Hitz just before it was canceled. Fishman also appeared in films, including Steven Spielberg's Artificial Intelligence: A.I.. He then reconnected with Barr as a co-host of The Roseanne Show, which ran for two years before it was canceled in 2000.

Return to entertainment industry: 2006-present

After the death of Glenn Quinn, Fishman reconnected with his entertainment industry roots. He began working behind the camera to gain the technical skills "necessary to move toward directing and producing", and has done set building, set design, camera operating, assistant directing and props. Fishman was the primary builder and fabricator in an art department group nominated for an Emmy in "Outstanding Set Design / Art Direction" on "Sports Science".

Since 2006, Fishman has been taking acting classes to "refine my acting skills in order to return as an adult". During these years, he has also begun to write and create his own material. In a recent interview he declared, "I'm back pursuing my first love. You don't always know how much you love something until it's gone. Losing Glenn Quinn reminded me how little time we have and motivated my pursuit of acting again full time". Fishman's goal is "to not only earn good work as an actor, but write and produce good work for others. I take professionalism very seriously. Whoever hires me is getting a motivated blue-collar worker ready to show what I can do as an adult"?.

On August 3, 2011, Fishman appeared on the Passover episode (season 1 episode 7) of Barr's reality show Roseanne's Nuts.

Fishman wrapped "Undrafted" starring with Aaron Tveit, Chace Crawford, Tyler Hoechlin, Joseph Mazzello, Philip Winchester, Matt Barr, James Belushi, Billy Gardell and Manny Montana [expected out 2014]

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1997	Little Bigfoot 2: The Journey Home	Mike Holliday
2001	A.I. Artificial Intelligence	Teen in Van
2014	Undrafted	Antonelli
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988–1997	Roseanne	D.J. Conner	221 episodes
1990	Little Rosie	Various Characters	Voice Role 12 Episodes
1996	Hey Arnold!	Joey	Voice Role Episode: "Spelling Bee/Pigeon Man"
1997	Seinfeld	Gregg	Episode: "The Apology"
1997	Hitz	Jimmy	3 Episodes
1999	Walker, Texas Ranger	Snake	Episode: "Lost Boys"
1999	The Roseanne Show	Co-Host	54 Episodes
2011	Roseanne's Nuts	Himself	Episode: "Passover"

Awards and nominations

Emmy

• 2007: Nominated, "Outstanding Production Design / Art Direction" - Sports Science

TV Land Award

• 2008: Won, "Innovator Award" - Roseanne

Young Artist Award

• 1989: Nominated, "Best Young Actor Under Nine Years of Age" - Roseanne
• 1991: Nominated, "Best Young Actor Under Nine Years of Age" - Roseanne
• 1995: Won, "Best Performance: Young Actor in a TV Comedy Series" - Roseanne

YoungStar Awards

• 1997: Nominated, "Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Comedy TV Series" - Roseanne