Michael Biehn Biography
Summary
"Michael Connell Biehn" (born July 31, 1956) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in James Cameron's science fiction-action films "The Terminator", "Aliens", and "The Abyss". He has also acted in other genres in such films as "Tombstone", "The Rock", and "Planet Terror". On television, Biehn appeared in the cast of the Emmy-Award winning 1980s television series "Hill Street Blues".
Biography
Personal life
Biehn was born in Anniston, Alabama, the son of Marcia (née Connell) and Don Biehn, a lawyer but would grow up in Lincoln, Nebraska. He has three siblings: Brooks Ann, Jonathon and Steven. Biehn attended high school in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and was a member of the high school drama club. He then attended the drama program at the University of Arizona (where he joined "Sigma Nu Fraternity") for two years before heading to Hollywood.
Biehn has been married twice, first to Carlene Olsen (1980 - 1987), and then to Gina Marsh (1988 - currently separated). He has four sons, including twin boys whom he jokingly refers to as 'professional poker players'.
Career
Perhaps Biehn's most memorable role was that of Kyle Reese, a lonely sergeant sent back in time by John Connor to save Sarah Connor in the 1984 movie "The Terminator". He has appeared in three other films directed by James Cameron: "Aliens" (playing a major secondary role as Corporal Hicks), "The Abyss" (playing a major role as Lieutenant Hiram Coffey) and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (his briefly reprised role as Reese which was removed from the theatrical release but restored in the special editions and the director's cut). For his role as Lt. Coffey in "The Abyss", the studio lobbied hard to get Biehn nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, but to no avail.
A picture of Biehn as Kyle Reese in "The Terminator" was reproduced as the cover-art of the 1987 video game "Metal Gear", which was meant to portray the game's protagonist, Solid Snake.
In the 2000s, Biehn has taken acting roles ranging from big budget movies such as "The Art of War" and "Clockstoppers", to video games like "Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun", and independent movies, such as "Havoc". He also starred in three TV series including the CBS drama "The Magnificent Seven" (1998-2000), the Tribune Entertainment syndicated TV series "Adventure, Inc." (2002-2003), and the NBC TV series "Hawaii" (2004). All three shows were subsequently cancelled due to low ratings. Biehn was considered for a role in James Cameron's new sci-fi epic movie "Avatar" (2009), but Cameron felt his appearance in the film coupled with that of Sigourney Weaver's would remind people too much of "Aliens" and not of Avatar as an original film of its own.
On November 7, 2008, TV Guide reported that Biehn will guest-star in a February episode of the CBS drama "Criminal Minds".
Trivia
In every James Cameron movie Michael appears in, his character is bitten on the hand by another character. This does not include "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (however, Biehn is only in one scene in this film, and the scene is not part of the theatrical version; it is only available in the extended edition of the film).
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Michael Biehn.
