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Michael A. Goorjian
American actor and director

Michael A. Goorjian

The basics

Quick Facts

Intro
American actor and director
Gender
Male
Place of birth
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California, USA
Age
53 years
Education
Bishop O'Dowd High School
Awards
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
(1994)
The details (from wikipedia)

Biography

Michael A. Goorjian (born February 4, 1971) is an American actor, filmmaker, and writer. Goorjian won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special for his role as David Goodson in the television film David's Mother (1994). He is also known for his role as Justin, Neve Campbell’s love interest on the series Party of Five (1994–2000), as well as Heroin Bob in the film SLC Punk! (1998) and its sequel, Punk's Dead (2016). As a director, Goorjian achieved recognition for his first major independent film, Illusion (2004), which he wrote, directed and starred in alongside Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas.

Biography

Acting

Goorjian was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. His father, Peter, is Armenian, with his paternal grandparents being survivors of the Armenian genocide; his mother, Sarah, is of Scottish-American descent. Goorjian grew up in Oakland, California, and attended Bishop O'Dowd High School, which had a strong drama program. At the age of 14, he decided to audition for a local theatre company, thinking it was a ‘cool way’ to skip class; after successfully landing the lead role in a 'not-so-cool' play called Computer Crazy, Goorjian soon found out that the rest of the cast were all senior citizens and that he would have to perform the play at his own junior high school. Despite this seemingly rather humiliating experience, Goorjian stuck with acting, eventually training at UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film and Television.

Goorjian won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special for the TV movie David's Mother (starring Kirstie Alley). Ray Loynd commented that Goorjian contributed "a wealth of physical and emotional detail that underscores the familial havoc".

Goorjian’s first big Hollywood break came as a dancer when, in 1992, he was cast as ‘Skittery’ in the Disney film Newsies (starring Christian Bale and Robert Duvall). What followed were roles in numerous subsequent films, including Chaplin (with Robert Downey Jr.), Forever Young (with Mel Gibson), the Oscar-nominated Leaving Las Vegas, Hard Rain (with Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater), SLC Punk! (with Devon Sawa), The Invisibles (with Portia de Rossi), Broken (with Heather Graham) and Conversations with God.

Goorjian has also guest-starred in a number of television series, including Lie to Me, House, Alias, Monk, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Without A Trace, and Chicago Hope, as well as a recurring role on Life Goes On (as Ray Nelson). He also appeared in the 2005 TV film Reefer Madness, a satirical musical adaptation of the anti-marijuana propaganda film from the 1930s.

Theater

Goorjian is a founding member of the Los Angeles-based theater group Buffalo Nights, and starred in the West Coast-premiere of Dennis McIntyre’s drama Modigliani (which won him an L.A. Weekly Theater Award nomination for Best Lead Actor). He played the title roles in both productions of The Apollo of Bellac (by Jean Giraudoux) and J.B. (by Archibald MacLeish). Goorjian also won at the L.A. Critics’ Choice Awards and the Garland Backstage West Awards for his original choreography for the L.A. production of the musical Reefer Madness.

Director

Goorjian made his first real foray into directing with the mock-documentary Oakland Underground, a comedy about an underground occult music scene in Oakland, CA. From there, Goorjian made Illusion with Kirk Douglas, which was released theatrically in 2006 after racking up over a dozen festival awards, including Best Screenplay at The Hampton’s International Film Festival, Best Feature at the Lake Tahoe International Film Festival and The Audience Award at the Sonoma International Film Festival. With Illusion Goorjian was critically lauded for his ability to blend great filmmaking with philosophical depth. Soon after Illusion, Goorjian began collaborating with the publishing company Hay House to produce and direct a number of films including the documentary You Can Heal Your Life (2007), starring metaphysical author and teacher, Louise L. Hay and The Shift, starring author Dr. Wayne Dyer, along with Michael DeLuise and Portia de Rossi. His most recent work with Hay House is an original film anthology called Tales of Everyday Magic, which explores meaningful philosophical ideas through intimate character-driven stories.

Additional directing credits include the short film Players’ Club, which swept the 2006 Elevate Film Festival in Los Angeles, including Best Director and The War Prayer, an adaptation of Mark Twain’s short story by the same title starring Jeremy Sisto. Occasionally, Goorjian also moonlights directing a circus/cabaret show in Eastern Europe called Palazzo.

Writing

Goorjian debuted as a novelist with his work What Lies Beyond the Stars, the first book in an intended trilogy commissioned by Hay House Publishing. The second book in the series, Beyond the Fractured Sky, will be released in the fall of 2018.

Filmography

Actor

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1991Shelf LifeAdamShort film
1992NewsiesSkittery
1992Forever YoungSteven
1992ChaplinCharles Chaplin Jr
1995Leaving Las VegasCollege Boy #1
1997ScreeningShort film
1998Hard RainKenny
1998SLC Punk!Bob
1998Art HouseDanny Farthing
1999The InvisiblesJudeAlso producer
1999Something MoreSam
1999Do Not DisturbBilly Boy Manson
1999How to Get Laid at the End of the WorldMichael
1999Here Lies LonelySid
1999Deal of a LifetimeHenry Spooner
2001AmerikanaPeter
2002The MesmeristCoroner #1Also writer
2002Go for BrokeRome / Romie
2003LeisureBarneyDirect-to-DVD
2004Happily Even AfterStuart
2004IllusionChristopherAlso director, producer, and writer
2005PomegranateJack
2006Conversations with GodRoy the Morning Boy
2006BrokenThomas
2008Around JuneMr. Lewis
2014Green ThumbDadShort film
2014My Eleventh
2016Punk's DeadBob
2018Pin-UpGuyShort film
2022AmerikatsiCharlieAlso director, producer, and writer

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1991Growing PainsHank MillerEpisode: "Like Father, Like Son"
1991Never ForgetChuckTelevision film
1991–1993Life Goes OnRay Nelson8 episodes
1993The Flood: Who Will Save Our Children?Scott ChapmanTelevision film
1994David's MotherDavid GoodsonTelevision film
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special
1994Blind JusticeSoldier #1Television film
1994Sweet JusticeJimmy2 episodes
1994Under SuspicionJohnnyEpisode: "Arson/Murder Story"
1994–2000Party of FiveJustin Thompson44 episodes
1997Touched by an AngelBudd GlaserEpisode: "Charades"
1998Chicago HopeJacob JoffeEpisode: "Austin Space"
1999Life in a DayDr. Peter HamiltonTelevision film
2001CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationAaron PrattEpisode: "Caged"
2004Without a TraceRicky WilsonEpisode: "Two Families"
2005AliasAndre SterescuEpisode: "Nocturne"
2005MonkJacob CarlyleEpisode: "Mr. Monk and the Kid"
2005Reefer MadnessMickey DrutherTelevision film
2005HouseSean RandolphEpisode: "Babies & Bathwater"
2005Killer InstinctRafe BradfordEpisode: "Who's Your Daddy"
2006CSI: MiamiJohn StockmanEpisode: "Darkroom"
2007Company ManJeff GreenwaldTelevision film
2007EyesBobby CreechEpisode: "Innocence"
2009Lie to MeFranko James Vincent / Glen WelshEpisode: "Secret Santa"
2014Covert AffairsBorz Altan3 episodes
2016Code BlackEmanuelEpisode: "The Fifth Stage"
2016LuciferElliot RichardsEpisode: "Liar, Liar, Slutty Dress on Fire"
2017The Wizard of LiesDan HorwitzTelevision film

Director

  • Blood Drips Heavily on Newsies Square (1991) (Short video)
  • Oakland Underground (1997)
  • Call Waiting (1998) (Short film)
  • Illusion (2004)
  • Players' Club (2006) (Short video)
  • The War Prayer (2007) (Short film)
  • You Can Heal Your Life (2007) (Documentary)
  • The Shift (2009) (Direct-to-DVD)
  • Entanglement (2012) (Television film)
  • The Magic Hand of Chance (2012)
  • Tales of Everyday Magic (2012)
  • Painting the Future (2012)
  • My Greatest Teacher (2012)
  • Amerikatsi (2022)

Writer

  • Oakland Underground (1997)
  • The Mesmerist (2002)
  • Illusion (2004)
  • Tales of Everyday Magic (2012)
  • My Greatest Teacher (2012)
  • Amerikatsi (2022)

Producer

  • Oakland Underground (1997)
  • The Invisibles (1999)
  • Part Time Fabulous (2011)
  • Amerikatsi (2022)
The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
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