Michael Edward O'Malley was born on October 31, 1966, in Boston, Massachusetts. He is an actor and writer who has appeared in many films and television series. Born in Boston and raised in New Hampshire, Mike moved to Los Angeles in the late 90s to star in a series for NBC, called The Mike O'Malley Show. He is probably best known for his role as Jimmy Hughes on the hit CBS series Yes, Dear that aired from October 2, 2000, to February 15, 2006.
Mike has also guest-starred in series such as My Name Is Earl, Raising Hope, Parenthood, and Parks and Recreation. He appeared in films such as 28 Days, Deep Impact, Leatherheads, Eat, Pray, Love, and R.I.P.D..
Mike is a published playwright whose plays include Three Years From Thirty and Diverting Devotion. He adapted another play called Searching for Certainty for Peter Askin's film Certainty, which premiered at the Boston Film Festival in 2011. Nominated for an Emmy Award for his role as Burt Hummel in Fox's hit series Glee, Mike is also a writer on Showtime's hit drama Shameless.
Early Life[]
Mike was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Nashua, New Hampshire, the son of Marianne and Tony O'Malley.
Mike is a 1984 graduate of Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua, New Hampshire, and a 1988 graduate from the University of New Hampshire where he studied theatre. He is also a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
Career[]
Television[]
His first role came as the host of Nickelodeon children's game shows Get the Picture and Nickelodeon GUTS On the advice of colleague and friend Marc Summers, he moved to Los Angeles after the cancellation of GUTS to further pursue his acting career. Mike starred in Life with Roger, a series which aired from 1996 to 1997. In 1999, two episodes of The Mike O'Malley Show aired before the show was canceled. During the 90s, he also appeared as The Rick, a popular character in a series of ads for the ESPN network.
Beginning in 2000, Mike starred as Jimmy Hughes on the CBS Comedy Yes, Dear: the show ran until 2006. Along with Yes, Dear co-star Anthony Clark, Mike appeared in the Alan Jackson music video The Talkin' song Repair Blues. From 2000 to 2002, Mike also provided the voice for The WB's Baby Blues.
In 2006, Mike made a guest appearance on My Name Is Earl, as a police officer with bowling aspirations, and made several more guest appearances on the show. In 2008, Mike appeared in the NBC drama My Own Worst Enemy.
In 2008, Mike became the spokesman for Time Warner Cable's digital cable. In 2009, Mike began playing the recurring character Burt Hummel, the father of a gay student, on Glee. It is a role which has pleasantly surprised him and lead to Entertainment Weekly's Tim Stack to say, "If Mike O'Malley doesn't win an Emmy for playing Burt Hummel, I will be sorely disappointed." Chris Colfer, who plays Burt's son Kurt, has credited his off-screen relationship with Mike with improving the quality of their scenes together.
Beginning in 2010, Mike portrayed a recurring character on Parenthood. He also hosted The World's Funniest Office Commercials in 2010. On July 8, 2010, Mike received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor - Comedy Series for playing Burt Hummel on Glee. Prior to its second season, Mike was made a series regular on Glee. On August 8, 2010, Mike won the Teen Choice Award for Best Parental Unit. He returned to recurring guest star status for the show's third season.
Film[]
Mike made his film debut in the 1998 film Deep Impact, playing Elijah Wood's astronomy teacher. He followed that with a supporting role in the John Cusack/Billy Bob Thornton film about air traffic controllers called Pushing Tin. In 2000, he portrayed Oliver, a drug addict in rehab, in the Sandra Bullock film 28 Days. In 2005, Mike starred in the Heather Locklear/Hilary Duff film The Perfect Man. In 2007, he had supporting roles in the George Clooney film Leatherheads and the Eddie Murphy film Meed Dave.
Mike was one of the people interviewed in the film City of Champions: The Best of Boston Sports.
In 2009, Mike participated in the American documentary The People Speak. In the film, he performed in a segment with political activist Staceyann Chin.
Writing[]
Mike is a playwright with two of his plays, Three Years from Thirty and Diverting Devotion, having been published and produced Off-Broadway. In 2003, a third play, Searching for Certainty was produced in Los Angeles.
He later wrote the screenplay for the film Certainty, which is based on Searching for Certainty. The movie began production by Mike, along with Will Battersby and Per Melita. Certainty premiered at the Boston Film Festival on September 16, 2011, where it won the Best Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Ensemble Cast awards.
He is also a writer and consulting producer on the Showtime dramedy Shameless.
Other Media Work[]
In 2007, Mike kept a blog on Yahoo! Sports, which followed the Boston Red Sox throughout their journey in the MLB playoffs, which was eventually capped of by their World Series title.
Mike is also mentioned in several songs by rapper mc chris.
Personal Life[]
Mike resides in Los Angeles with his wife Lisa. They have three children, Fiona, Seamus, and Declan.
Kerry O'Malley, his younger sister, is an actress and Broadway veteran. She received critical attention for her role in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods and appeared in several episodes of Showtime's Brotherhood and Shameless.
A long time fan of Boston band Buffalo Tom, Mike is a close friend of lead singer Bill Janovitz. They have often supported causes together. Mike requested that the band create a title song for his own short-lived television show The Mike O'Malley Show, as well as for the sitcom Yes, Dear which he co-starred on. According to Mike, his love for the band was shared with his wife and was "the glue" that kept them together during their long distance relationship.
Mike is a Boston Red Sox fan, and in May 2006 threw out the first pitch at a game in Fenway Park. He is also an avid fan of the NHL's Boston Bruins and the NFL's New England Patriots.
Mike returned to his graduating alma mater in 2006 to deliver the commencement speech to the University's 136th graduating class. He also received an honorary degree.