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Gregory Michael Profile |
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Birth Date: May 30, 1981
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Birth Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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Birth Name: Gregory Michael
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Biography |
Gregory Michael was born in the city of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania and grew up there with his parents and an older
sister. While being schooled at a private catholic
institution, Gregory discovered early on, the love of
performing for others. Being involved with school theater
and the oratory/forensics (Speech & Debate) club, Gregory
honed his skills for performing. Winning awards across the
nation for dramatic and humorous interpretation of
literature, he excelled at the craft of captivating
audiences. In his early teens Gregory was very active in
community theater, which landed him leading roles in various
musicals and plays; some of which were performed at the
famous Walnut Street Theatre.
Gregory remained in Philly until the age of 18, when he went
away to college at Pennsylvania State University. Furthering
his studies in acting, theater, and the arts, Gregory felt
compelled to move onto a place where he could let his
talents take flight. Gregory made a decision and took the
chance to follow his dreams, and moved to the Big Apple.
Finding a place to live in New York City proved easier than
finding a job. Gregory's first audition in NYC was for the
Walt Disney Company. Amazingly, he landed a job to work for
Mickey Mouse, which was always a dream of Gregory's since he
was a young boy. Now he had a chance to make that dream a
reality, but with that reality he found himself moving once
again, this time to the sunshine state.
Gregory signed on to work at Walt Disney World in Orlando,
Florida, as a character performer. Daily shows in front of
Cinderella's Castle, the occasional parade, and the famous
Disney work ethic, helped create Gregory's backbone in his
new professional acting career. Televised Christmas and
holiday parades became Gregory's first appearances on TV.
Now some may say this is not the most glamorous acting gig,
but Gregory was fulfilling a childhood dream and at least he
had a job. A year after taking the job at Disney, he was
recruited to work for Universal Studios. Singing, dancing,
and comedic improv was still his routine but now at a
different venue. Soon he found the shows and performances at
the theme park to be just that - theme park shows. He
realized if he wanted to climb up the totem pole of success,
he would have to leave Orlando. After very little
deliberation, Gregory found himself once again in New York
City.
Living with his sister, Christina, in NYC was a blessing,
but the worry of not having a job was a reality. Auditioning
for roles became a regular activity. Shortly after he moved
to the city, he had his first big role on one of the oldest
shows on television, the CBS soap opera "As The World
Turns". Working for more than 7 months on the show was an
amazing experience for Gregory. He says it was like boot
camp for actors. Fine tuning his talents and skills was his
goal. Taking up classes at the "Barrow Group" taught him
even more about his craft. But always looking to better his
career and move up and on, Gregory felt that the only place
he could be, that would be more beneficial to his career,
was Los Angeles. With that in mind, and little hesitation,
he left the soap, moved from New York City and made another
risky move.
Los Angeles, California, is now Gregory's new home. Far from
where he grew up, he only knew a couple of people who lived
there. Besides dealing with unfamiliar territory, he also
didn't have a job, so it was back to auditioning. Again as
luck would have it, he landed a pilot shortly after moving
to LA. A TV drama which mixes the likes of "Buffy the
Vampire Slayer" and "The O.C.", this drama was right up his
alley. But the part he took on was very challenging, and he
began to seek out more training. "The Actors Studio" became
home for the development of his new character, and also
provided an arena to sharpen his skills and talents. The
show got picked up and went into development right away.
"Dante's Cove" was born. Filming the show was an amazing
experience for Gregory, not to mention the production
location was in Turks and Caicos Islands. |
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