Educated at Boston University's School for the Arts, majoring in acting, before moving to New York City. Michael has numerous theater credits including the roles of Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire and Touchstone in Shakespeare's As You Like It.
Daughter, Autumn, was born on October 9, 1993. Daughter, Odessa, born 1999 Chosen over 200 other candidates for the role of John Belushi in the fantasy biopic Wired. After his show Daddio went off the air, his wife suggested that Chiklis slim his weight down and change his self image with a different look and a totally different acting part, even if they have to create one themselves for him. He then shaved his head, lost more than 50 pounds, worked out vigorously and the two of them started to write a "rogue cop" movie role for him. Chiklis eventually read The Shield's pilot script (originally called "Rampart"), which was similar to his "rogue cop" movie script, and aggressively pursued the part of Vic Mackey until he got it. When he read for the the part, he generated anger by being furious at the prospect of not getting it. Is Greek, his family hailing from the island of Lesbos. When he was on The Commish, a hostage situation broke out down the street from his house. Two LAPD plainclothes detectives came up to him when he was out in his yard and explained the situation to him, thinking he was the LAPD commissioner. Said when he arrived in New York City, that he was going to kick the city's ass. Three years later when he was a struggling actor so poor that he couldn't afford a can of Spam, he was sitting on the Brooklyn Bridge begging for forgiveness. It was that day when he got the role in Wired. Moved to New York City the day of his graduation to pursue his career Shares a birthday with baseball legend, Ted Williams He does charity work pertaining to autism, as Vic's son on 'The Shield' suffers from the condition. Is the only actor from Fantastic Four (2005) that is actually a fan of the comic book series. Growing up, his childhood idol was the heroic comic book character Ben Grimm, aka The Thing of the Fantastic Four. In fact, at the age of 18, he told his brother that if a Fanatastic Four movie was ever made, he would play Ben Grimm. He lived his fantasy and got to play what he called "my dream role" in 2005 when he played the character in "The Fantastic Four". He is very proud of his Greek heritage and encourages his daughters to learn of Greece and the Greek language. Has a brother called Peter His parents owned a Barbershop. Always knew he wanted to be an actor even when advised against it by his parents who still supported him when he chose to act. His worst job was "unloading 18 wheel trucks for 12 hours a day". Attends the Greek Orthodox Chuch services every year without fail during the Greek Easter period, his name day and Christmas period. Lost an incredible amount of weight to play Vic Mackey in the Shield. Trained with weights especially bench-press. Loves traveling overseas, especially to his house in Lesbos, Greece. Loves Greek dancing His real daughter, Autumn, plays his daughter Cassidy on "The Shield." He has said that his daughter is not to witness any violence on the show and is to be kept apart from all scenes except for the scenes she is in. He loves classic rock. Is a huge fan of the New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox.