Biography
Thespian Michael O'Neill grew up in Montgomery, AL, and attended nearby Auburn University as an economics major, then took his first steps toward professional acting work with a move to New York and on-stage roles at Playwrights Horizons. During the '80s, '90s, and 2000s, O'Neill divided his time, more or less equally, between stage, screen, and television; in all of these venues, the actor specialized in portrayals of gently authoritative yet warm and genial everyman types, such as kind fathers, school psychologists, and small-town physicians. Features in which O'Neill appeared included
Ghost Story (1981),
The Sunchaser (1996),
Traffic (2000), and
Transformers (2007); memorable television roles include contributions to
The West Wing (as the head of presidential detail),
24, and
Boston Public. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide