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A utilitarian comedic and dramatic actor on film, TV and the stage, Michael Joseph Thomas Ward, began his acting career following an exceptionally strong background in radio as a deejay, reporter, newsman, news writer and sports director.
He was born Michael Joseph Ward III on March 10, 1959, in the Chicago suburb of Elmhurst, Illinois, the son (and second of five) of the late Michael J. Ward, Jr., a journalist and public relations executive, and Harriet M. Ward, a nurse. He received his early education in both the Riverside and Roselle areas of Illinois. Naturally athletic, Michael lettered in cross country, basketball and track during his high school years at Lake Park High School in Roselle.
Enrolled at the University of Notre Dame as a pre-med student, Michael graduated in 1981 and went on to Memphis State University for an intended masters' degree in Microbiology. During this time of study, however, a chance meeting with Memphis WRVR radio deejay Rick Robinson led to a life-altering career change. With the assistance of Robinson, Michael made a vocal demo tape and successfully moved into the world of radio.
Abruptly leaving his graduate program after eight months, Michael returned to Chicago and landed a weekend radio deejay gig at WKDC in Elmhurst with a Broadway show tune format. He also worked as a reporter for a PM Magazine type show that aired on Elmhurst Community Cable TV and, some time later, as an intern for Chicago news commentator Charles Cleveland at WBBM-TV.
Employed as a part-time news writer for WUBE-WMLX in Cincinnati in 1984, Michael moved to on-air work after a chance opened up for him to cover Pete Rose's quest to break Ty Cobb's record in a series against the San Diego Padres in September of 1985. This eventually led to a full-time job at WRBI, a country music station located in Batesville, Indiana. In addition to being their midday jock, he also served as their evening newsman, sports director and occasional interviewer for such celebs as Art Linkletter.
Michael's hiring as a news reporter and fill-in anchor at Cincinnati's WLW station would be his last full-time radio job. In 1988, he abruptly turned his focus to acting after being cast in the title role of "The Nerd" at a local Cincinnati theater. Other stage work followed with the drama "Blue Jacket," an outdoor production of "Johnny Appleseed," the classic Dickens play "A Christmas Carol" for The Human Race Theatre Co. in Dayton, Ohio, and a Notre Dame Summer Shakespeare production of "Much Ado About Nothing" (as Verges). He also went on to include improv and sketch comedy to his theatre résumé.
Michael had his first co-star role in an episode of "Unsolved Mysteries." A couple of commercials for Giant Eagle Supermarkets earned the actor his SAG card in 1997. Into the millennium, he broke into films with a bit role in the independent feature April's Fool (2001). Other movie parts followed including Blue Car (2002) written and directed by Karen Moncrieff and starring David Strathairn; Turning the Corner (2004), written and directed by Daniel M. McCormack; Graduation (2007), a comedy caper with Adam Arkin; the romantic comedy LAID: Life as It's Dealt (2012); A Kind of Murder (2016), a crime thriller starring Patrick Wilson and Jessica Biel; the comedy B-Roll (2019); and Echo Boomers (2020), an action drama starring Michael Shannon. One notable highlight was his supporting roles in a pair of films directed by Todd Haynes -- Carol (2015) starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara and the environmental drama Dark Waters (2019) with Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway and Tim Robbins.
Of his numerous short films, Michael portrayed Hades in a visual retelling of the Greek myth Persephone (2008), and has since graced a host of up-and-coming writer/director projects, including The Beekeeper (2009) by Sean Jourdan; White Solace (2011) by Jack Coleman; Bingo Night (2014) by Jordan Lebow; There Is No Door (2017) by Ward Crockett and the more recent Deliver Me (2020) by Yasmin Asif.
The highlight of Michael's TV credits was his starring role in the sci-fi comedy web series Dark Age (2013) as Arthur, one of a motley group of survivors adjusting to a post-apocalyptic world. Branching into producing, he is serving as an associate producer for the upcoming crime dramedy film Silent Bark (2027), produced and written by Karen Cole.
