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Born in Valdosta, Georgia, to an American mother and Austrian father, with one older brother by four years, he spent his early years in Florida and Tennessee where his father taught Economics and his mother taught English at the university level.
His father relocated the family to his native Austria to found The Carl Menger Institute in Vienna, a private institute for humane studies, as a platform for economists in Central and Eastern Europe. Michael's mother continued teaching I.B. level English at the English-speaking international school where Michael attended from fifth to twelfth grade.
The diverse and international background of the school community influenced Michael's world view and his formative years in Vienna shaped him as an artist with rich exposure to European theater, art, opera, and classical music, both in Vienna as well as in yearly trips to London and Stratford. As a young artist, Michael sang with his high school choir at Vienna's Musikverein and Konzerthaus, performed in Speech and Debate tournaments across Europe, and took trips to see London theatre, seeing such inspiring actors as Ian McKellen do Richard III and Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet with the RSC.
Returning to the U.S. for college, Michael studied acting at The Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in Pittsburgh. Michael moved to Los Angeles upon graduating and made his television debut in an episode of Pacific Blue (1996). He also notably acted opposite Adam Brody (I) in the MTV pilot The Sausage Factory (2003) in the role of Tim. Having lived in Los Angeles doing television for three years, he relocated to New York to have more opportunities to be on stage. He now lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Michael Zlabinger made his New York theater debut in an off-Broadway production of "Five Women Wearing The Same Dress" by Alan Ball (I). He has since gone on to build a theater career that has taken him to regional as well as international stages, performing everything from Shakespeare to Edward Albee. Most notably, Michael played Billy in the European premiere of Edward Albee's Tony Award-winning play "The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?" which took him full circle, back to his hometown of Vienna, Austria. He also has tackled the monumental theater roles of Iago, Romeo, and Torvald to date.
