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Name: Michael Emerson
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Date of Birth:
September 07, 1955
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Place of Birth:
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA
Mini-bio:
Emerson was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and grew up in the
neighboring town of Toledo, Iowa. After graduating from Iowa's Drake
University, where he earned a degree in Theatre Arts in 1976, he moved
...( read more)
to New York City. Unable to find acting work, he took retail jobs and worked
as a freelance illustrator. In 1986, he moved with his first wife to
Jacksonville, Florida. There, from 1986 to 1993, he acted in local
productions.
Emerson considered giving up acting in favor of a more stable career as a
teacher, but decided to instead find an MFA program that would help
introduce him to professionals in theater and a higher grade of directors.
In 1993, he enrolled in the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's University of
Alabama-sponsored Master of Fine Arts/Professional Actor Training program.
After graduation, Emerson returned to New York to appear in the annual
Alabama Shakespeare Festivak showcase.
Continuing to act in regional theater, he finally got his big break in 1997
when he starred as Oscar Wilde in Moises Kaufman's critically-acclaimed
off-Broadway play, *Gross Indecency: The Trials of Oscar Wilde.*
In the following years, Emerson has continued to act on stage. He has
displayed his talents opposite Uma Thurman off-Broadway in The Misanthrope
in 1998 and as Willie Oban in 1999's The Iceman Cometh with Kevin Spacey. He
co-starred with Kate Burton in both Give Me Your Answer, Do! and Hedda
Gabler. Emerson also offered a memorable performance as (fictional)
confessed serial killer William Hinks in several episodes of The Practice,
for which he won a 2001 Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama
Series. One of his most well-known works came a few years ago as the
character Zep Hindle in the horror movie Saw. In 2006, he began a guest
starring role playing Benjamin Linus (formerly called "Henry Gale" on the
show) on the American television show Lost. Originally set to appear in a
small number of episodes, Emerson returned for the third season as a main
cast member.
Divorced once, he married his second wife, actress Carrie Preston, in
September of 1998.
kenobiwolf42posted 206 days ago
