Biography for
Michael York (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

27 March 1942, Fulmer, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Birth Name

Michael York-Johnson

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography

Michael York was born in Fulmer, England, 27 March 1942. He performed on stage with the National Youth Theatre in London's East End and on international tour. Other early acting experience came through the Oxford University Dramatic Society (he graduated Oxford 1964), the Dundee Repertory, and Laurence Olivier's National Theater Company - where he worked with Franco Zeffirelli, who gave him his film debut as Lucentio in The Taming of the Shrew (1967) and his breakthrough role as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1968/I). He achieved early TV acclaim for his portrayal of Jolyon in "The Forsyte Saga" (1967). Other notable early movie roles include Brian Roberts in Cabaret (1972), Count Andrenyi in Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and D'Artagnan in several Musketeers films. He has starred in over 50 TV movies, continued stage work, starring on Broadway, made many spoken word recordings, written and lectured internationally. His autobiography (1993) was issued as "Accidentally on Purpose" in the U.S. and "Travelling Player" in Britain. He was in the hit The Omega Code (1999) with Catherine Oxenberg and Casper Van Dien. He had a great part in all of the "Austin Powers" films.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>

Spouse

Patricia McCallum

(27 March 1968 - present)

Trade Mark

Deep, mellow voice

Trivia

Stepfather of producer Rick McCallum.

He was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1997 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to drama.

Good friend and mentor to actor Casper Van Dien. Lifelong friend to Casper's wife Catherine Oxenberg.

Was attached to Death on the Nile (1978) at one stage.

Appeared in Sword of Gideon (1986) (TV), based on the book <I>Vengeance</I> by George Jonas. In Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), he appears with Steven Spielberg, who directed the remake, Munich (2005).

Co-wrote a book with Adrian Brine called 'A Shakesperean actor prepares.'

Member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1987.

Was the original choice to play Sgt. Howie in The Wicker Man (1973) but was unavailable for the part. The part went to Edward Woodward.

At age three, he broke his nose when he jumped off the roof of a coal house while trying to fly.

His father was an army officer turned businessman and his mother a musician.

Joined the National Theatre in January of 1965.

Provides a voice-over for one of the apes in Spaceballs (1987), which spoofed several science fiction series, but mainly Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). His stepson, Rick McCallum, produced the Star Wars prequels.

Graduate of Oxford University.

Appears in Romeo and Juliet (1968/I) and The Three Musketeers (1973)/The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974). Both of the literary works on which these were based were later satirized in the play Cyrano de Bergerac, which makes use of the balcony scene from the former and the character of d'Artagnan from the latter.

Personal Quotes

Cinema, it has always seemed to me, is essentially a filmed thought.

[when told by Angelo Evangelatos that he wanted to be an actor, 2/5/05] If you want to do it, then forget about it. If you have to do it, then no one you talk to or seek advice from will make any difference.