Michael McCleery Biography

Michael McCleery (born August 18, 1959) is an American film actor.

Early life

McCleery was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 18, 1959, to Dr. Robert S. McCleery and Virginia Kavanaugh McCleery. His family ancestry is mixed Scotch-Irish, Irish, German, French, and English, and Michael was raised in the Irish-Catholic religion.

McCleery attended pre-school in Nashville, then the family moved to Great Falls, Montana, where his brother Gary was born. His father accepted work as a medical advertising executive on Madison Avenue, so the family moved east in the late 1960s. The family lived in Princeton, New Jersey, where Michael saw his first Shakespearean productions at the McCarter Theatre and his interest in the dramatic arts was spawned.

As a teenager at Princeton High School, McCleery was introduced by a family friend to the legendary casting director Marian Dougherty in New York City; Dougherty brought him in to read for The Friends of Eddie Coyle, a film starring Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle. Michael played the role of a juvenile car thief from Boston. The next year, 1974, he played the role of a mugger who accosts Art Carney's character on a Manhattan street in Harry & Tonto.

After graduating from high school, McCleery attended Colorado College in Colorado Springs for several years, studying English literature and American history and performing in productions in the local theatre.

Acting career

McCleery left Colorado College without a degree, returned to New York City, and began to study at the Stella Adler Conservatory, specializing in Adler's scene-study and script-analysis sessions. In 1980, McCleery played the role of the psychotic young killer, Addley, in the cult-horror film Mother's Day. He played a variety of roles in off-off Broadway and then off-Broadway productions, including Prairie Avenue and The Hospital Play at Joe Papp's Public Theatre, while continuing to study with the acting coach Larry Moss in Manhattan.

In 1990, McCleery moved to Los Angeles and was in a supporting role with Sondra Locke in Impulse, the only feature film Locke directed. The next year, he appeared in another supporting role in The Fires Within, directed by Australian director Gillian Armstrong. Shortly thereafter, feeling the strong pull of a boyhood dream, he returned to Montana, where he worked for family friends on their cattle ranch outside Great Falls.

McCleery moved to Los Angeles in 1994 and got a leading role in the Met Theatre's production of James Moody's The Fool, the story of Sir Francis Drake's voyage through the Straits of Magellan, up the west coast of South America, and on to what is now the San-Francisco Bay. There he was spotted by casting director Mali Finn, who brought him into read for James Ellroy's LA Confidential directed by Curtis Hanson. He was cast in the role of Detective Carlisle. Following that, he played the lead opposite Muse Watson in the independent release If I Die... and then played a supporting role in the 1999 film Best Laid Plans with Reese Witherspoon and Josh Brolin. He then played the role of Sheriff Akins in John Dahl's 2001 cult-horror film Joy Ride with Paul Walker and Steve Zahn. The next year, he had a supporting role in The United States of Leland produced by, and starring, Kevin Spacey. Michael then took a "leave of absence" from show business to become a personal trainer.

In 2012, McCleery returned to acting full-time in the HBO series Luck produced by Michael Mann, playing opposite Nick Nolte.

Filmography

• The Friends of Eddie Coyle ... The Kid (1973)
• Harry & Tonto ... Mugger (1974)
• Mother's Day ... Addley (1980) (credited as Billy Ray McQuade)
• Alien Space Avenger ... Derek (1989)
• Impulse ... Punk Delivering Flowers (1990)
• Fires Within ... Deckhand (1991)
• L.A. Confidential ... Carlilse (1997)
• If I Die Before I Wake ... T.J. (1998)
• Best Laid Plans (UK film)|Best Laid Plans ... Recycling Owner (1999)
• Road Kill ... Officer Akins (2001)
• The United States of Leland ... Mechanic #2 (2003)