Michael Beck

For other people named Michael Beck, see Michael Beck (disambiguation).

Michael Beck
Beck in 2024
Born	(1949-02-04) February 4, 1949 (age 75) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Alma mater	Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1971–present

Michael Beck (born February 4, 1949)^[1] is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Swan in The Warriors (1979) as Sonny Malone in Xanadu (1980), and as Koda in Triumphs of a Man Called Horse (1983).

Early life

Beck was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the third of nine children. He attended Memphis University School and then Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi with a football scholarship.^[2] While in college, he was a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity. After graduating with a degree in economics, he was one of 30 (out of 2,500) applicants chosen for London's Central School of Speech and Drama.^[3] Beck's stage credits, beginning with college, include Camelot (as King Arthur), Of Mice and Men (as George Milton), Romeo and Juliet (as Tybalt),^[2] and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Career

Beck is known predominantly for his roles as Swan for the action movie The Warriors (1979),^[4] Sonny Malone for Xanadu (1980),^[5] Lieutenant Commander Dallas in Megaforce (1982),^[6] and Koda for Triumphs of a Man Called Horse (1983). Both the Xanadu and Megaforce roles garnered him Razzie nominations, for Worst Actor and Worst Supporting Actor, respectively.^[7] Beck has appeared in other movies such as Warlords of the 21st Century (1982), Wes Craven's Chiller (1985), Gone to Texas (1986) as James Bowie, and Forest Warrior (1996).

Beck appeared as Hans Helms in the 1978 television miniseries Holocaust, and featured with Michael Paré in the CBS police drama Houston Knights (1987–1988).^[8] He appeared in television shows such as JAG, Walker, Texas Ranger, In the Heat of the Night, as the Mars-born terrorist-turned-cyborg assassin Abel Horn in Babylon 5 (episode "Spider in the Web"),^[2] and as Mr. Jones in the spin-off television series Crusade.

Beck has narrated numerous audiobooks of John Grisham's novels.^[9] He also narrated Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz,^[10] A Darkness More Than Light by Michael Connelly,^[11] State of the Union by David Callahan,^[12] the unabridged version of Bill Clinton's My Life.^[13], and numerous religious books including the Bible. He also reprised his role as Swan in 2005, lending his voice to the popular video game adaptation of The Warriors.^[14]

Personal life

Beck is a born-again Christian.^[3]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	The Hard Ride	Highway Thug	Uncredited
1978	Madman	Boris Abramovich
1979	The Warriors	Swan
1980	Xanadu	Sonny Malone
1982	Battletruck	Hunter	aka Warlords of the 21st Century and Destroyers
1982	Megaforce	Dallas
1983	Triumphs of a Man Called Horse	Koda
1983	The Golden Seal	Crawford
1996	Forest Warrior	Arlen Slaighter
1998	The Jungle Book: Search for the Lost Treasure	Professor Gershwin Donovan
2015	The Grace of Jake	Henry Haynes
2015	The Warriors: Last Subway Ride Home	Swan	Video

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Ryan's Hope	Unknown	2 episodes
1978	Holocaust	Hans Helm	3 episodes
1979	Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure	John Alden	Television film
1980	Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story	Clarence Carnes	Television film
1981	Fly Away Home	Mark	Television film
1983	The Last Ninja	Kenjiro Sakura	Television film
1984	Celebrity	T.J. Luther	3 episodes
1984	The Streets	Sergeant Danny Wreade	Television film
1984	Rearview Mirror	Jerry Sam Hopps	Television film
1985	Wes Craven's Chiller	Miles Creighton	Television film
1985	Blackout	Mike Patterson	Television film
1986	Gone to Texas	James Bowie	Television film
1987–1988	Houston Knights	Sergeant Levon Lundy	30 episodes
1989	Murder, She Wrote	Danny Schubert	Episode: "The Search for Peter Kerry"
1990	Murder, She Wrote	Justin Fields	Episode: "Trials and Tribulations"
1990	Only One Survived	Paul Haskel	Television film
1991	Deadly Game	Peterson	Television film
1991	Stranger at My Door	Jimmy Lee Dancey	Television film
1991	Final Judgement	Delaney	Television film
1993	Fade to Black	Braith	Television film
1993	In the Heat of the Night	Sonny Roper	Episode: "A Deadly Affection"
1993	Murder, She Wrote	Brian Bentall	Episode: "The Big Kill"
1994	Robin's Hoods	Detective Stephen DeCosta	3 episodes
1994	Babylon 5	Abel Horn	Episode: "Spider in the Web"
1995	McKenna	Jon Doe / Alex	Episode: "Racing in the Streets"
1996−1998	Walker, Texas Ranger	Adam McGuire	2 episodes
1997	Diagnosis: Murder	Frank Waldeck	Episode: "Deadly Games"
1998	Born Free	Luke	Episode: "The Reunion"
1999	Crusade	Mr. Jones	Episode: "The Well of Forever"
2001	Nash Bridges	Adult Bobby Bridges	Episode: "Quack Fever"
2004	JAG	Senator Carter Innes	Episode: "Whole New Ball Game"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	The Warriors	Swan

Audiobooks

Year	Title	Author	Notes
2023	Trust: Knowing When to Give It, When to Withhold It, How to Earn It, and How to Fix It When It Gets Broken	Henry Cloud	Non-fiction
2022	The Boys From Biloxi	John Grisham
2020	A Time for Mercy	John Grisham	Third book featuring Jake Brigance
2020	Camino Winds	John Grisham	Sequel to Camino Island
2019	The Guardians	John Grisham
2018	The Reckoning	John Grisham
2013	Sycamore Row	John Grisham
2008	The Appeal	John Grisham
2006	The Summons	John Grisham
2006	The Brethren	John Grisham
2006	The King of Torts	John Grisham
2006	A Time to Kill	John Grisham
2005	The Broker	John Grisham
2004	My Life	Bill Clinton

References

1. Rose, Mike (February 4, 2023). "Today's famous birthdays list for February 4, 2023 includes celebrities Alice Cooper, Natalie Imbruglia". Cleveland.com. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
2. Weiss, Arlene R. (May 11, 2015). "Michael Beck Reflects on "The Warriors," "Xanadu" and the Premiere of His New Film The Grace of Jake". PopEntertainment.com. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
3. Connor, Jackson (September 8, 2015). "Remember the Warriors: Behind the Chaotic, Drug-Fueled, and Often Terrifying Making of a Cult Classic". The Village Voice. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
4. Maslin, Janet (February 10, 1979). "Movie: 'Warriors' Creates Visual Style That Is Stark:The Cast". The New York Times. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
5. Maslin, Janet (August 9, 1980). "MISS NEWTON-JOHN IN 'XANADU'". The New York Times. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
6. Maslin, Janet (June 27, 1982). "'MEGAFORCE' IS A MIX OF JOVIALITY AND STUNTS". The New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
7. Tenreyro, Tatiana (February 8, 2019). "13 Razzie-Nominated Movies That Are Way Better Than You Remember". Bustle. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
8. Bobbin, Jay; Lawler, Sylvia (August 16, 1987). "HOUSTON KNIGHTS' TRIES AGAIN AT 8 P.M. TUESDAYS". The Morning Call. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
9. Rubins, Jennifer (October 18, 2018). "Narrator Q&A: Longtime Grisham narrator Michael Beck returns in THE RECKONING". Books on Tape. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
10. Bauers, Sandy (June 3, 1999). "AUTHOR EXPLORES MANY DIFFERENT SHADES OF GRAY". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
11. Kingston, Peter (March 2, 2001). "A Darkness More than Night by Michael Connelly, read by Michael Beck". The Guardian. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
12. "ATOP THE STAIRMASTERSTATE OF THE UNIONBy David..." Chicago Tribune. August 24, 1997. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
13. Newman, Andrew Adam (June 6, 2005). "The Winner Is Bill Clinton, in His Own Voice (Abridged)". The New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
14. Schiesel, Seth (October 16, 2005). "Gangs of New York". The New York Times. Retrieved February 3, 2014.

External links

• Michael Beck at IMDb
• Michael Beck at AllMovie