Emerson graduated from South Tama County High School in Tama, Iowa.
Michael Emerson is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Benjamin Linus on the television series Lost and as Harold Finch on the CBS series Person of Interest.
Emerson was born on September 7, 1954, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Carol and Ronald Emerson. He has three siblings: two sisters and one brother. Emerson attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena, California.
Emerson’s career began in the theater. He appeared in several Off-Broadway and Broadway plays, including The Iceman Cometh and Waiting for Godot. Emerson’s first film role was in the 1985 film Death of a Salesman. He has since appeared in many films, including The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000), Saw (2004), and The Dark Knight (2008).
Emerson has won several awards for his work, including an Emmy Award for his role in Lost and a Saturn Award for his role in Person of Interest.
Emerson is married to actress Carrie Preston. They have two sons together.
University of Alabama, Drake University, South Tama County High School
Nationality
American
Family
Spouse
Carrie Preston
Parents
Carol Emerson, Ronald H. Emerson
Siblings
Patrick Emerson, Melissa Emerson
Accomplishments
Awards
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Saturn Award, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Nominations
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Motion Picture Made for Television, Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film, Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Villain, Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Pl...
Movies
Saw, The Legend of Zorro, Ready? OK!, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1, Unfaithful, Straight-Jacket, The Impostors, Playing by Heart, 29th and Gay, The Laramie Project, For Love of the Game, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2, Orpheus Descending, Goldstar, Ohio, I'll Take You There, Jump...
TV Shows
Person of Interest, Lost, Lost: Missing Pieces, Odd Jobs
Frequently works with wife Carrie Preston (e.g. mother and son in 'Lost' (though not in the same scenes), doomed fiances in 'Person of Interest', neighbors in 'Ready? OK!', and numerous appearances together on stage).
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Distinctive voice
Quotes
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Quote
1
[on having appeared for five seasons on 'Lost'] I like the show better the more I think of it. It did break new ground and it had a ripple effect. It played with the narrative process. It presented the audience with an esoteric view of time and space in a way they hadn't seen before. And I think the audience paid it back with this incredible affection and fervor that has really never gone away.
2
[on 'Person of Interest'] When the NSA story broke I thought 'Oh, wow, now real events have caught up with us'. It's double-edged, though, because now we're very topical and the writers can no longer write it from the point-of-view of it being fiction. In a real way, the world has forced itself on us. And now the real world has to be incorporated into our stories in more subtle ways - because of what the audience now knows.
3
A better question might be what is it about those characters that appeals to audiences, or an even better question is why do audiences perceive them as creepy? Let's say I got to the studio one day and I play it in neutral - I don't make any judgment about the character or the material or anything. And then when it comes out and it's all chopped together and there's music and stuff, people go 'my God that's scary!' But I don't know what the scary element is. I don't know if it's something in me. I don't know if it's in the playing of it or the perceiving of it. It's an interesting issue, though. - asked why he's drawn to playing "creepy" characters
4
[about doing Unfaithful (2002)] You work four days, and then one line is left when you see it. Demoralizing.
5
It worries me a little bit the reach and power of TV. More people saw me in The Practice (1997) than will ever see me in all the stage plays I ever do. Which is sort of humbling. Or troubling. Or both.
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I've had the blessing of doing classic plays on Broadway, which was one of my great dreams forever.
Facts
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Fact
1
He was awarded the 1998 Back Stage Garland Award for Performance for "Gross Indecency' The Trials of Oscar Wilde at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
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He and the cast were awarded the 1998 Back Stage Garland Award for Ensemble for "Gross Indecency' The Trials of Oscar Wilde at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
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Worked as a Drama teacher before acting and briefly considered staying with it.
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Did not start acting professionally until he was 32 years old.
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Worked as a freelance illustrator and in retail before his acting career started.
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Did not have his first starring role in a play until he was 43 years old.
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Close friends with Terry O'Quinn.
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Michael Emerson met his now-wife, Carrie Preston, during the mid-1990s, when they both appeared in a production of "Hamlet" at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Preston played "Ophelia" and Emerson played "Guildenstern" in the production.
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Emerson graduated from South Tama County High School in Tama, Iowa.
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On Lost (2004), he played Ben Linus, the son of Roger Linus, played by Jon Gries, who is actually 3 years the junior of Emerson. The age difference is explicable because Roger is first seen in flashbacks to Ben's birth and childhood. Ben's mother was played by Carrie Preston, who in addition to being (like Gries) somewhat younger than Emerson, is also his real-life wife.
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Worked as a freelance illustrator for publications like The Boston Globe and The New York Times.
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Graduate of Drake University, where he earned a degree in Theater Arts.
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In 1995, he graduated from the prestigious Professional Actor Training M. F. A. program run jointly by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and The University of Alabama Department of Theater and Dance. He turned 40 while in the program, which made him about 15 years older than the typical theater graduate student.