Best known as the drummer of The Monkees, George Michael Dolenz Jr. - aka Micky - has fashioned a long-lasting and diversified career in show business. The son of actor George Dolenz, Micky, with American Indian and Yugoslavian blood in his heritage, took to acting as a boy, earning great success in the 1950s with Circus Boy. Though he continued to act with the show's end, he focused more on college studies, his most passionate interest being architecture. He also delved into singing, performing in LA-area clubs with a band called Micky & The One-Nighters as well as with a band called Missing Links; among those who saw Micky in action was Michael Nesmith.

Micky auditioned for The Monkees TV series in 1965, and on the strength of his audition won a role and became the group's designated crazy one. Assigned as a drummer, Micky worked to learn the instrument well enough to bluff his way through filming. He was also initially welcome to the musical guidance of Don Kirshner, but as Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork grew more openly rebellious of the restrictions imposed, Micky, who could be hotheaded, quickly sided with his bandmates, and when the group began touring for real in late 1966 Micky learned drumming to pull off concerts.

It all led to the group's famous break with Kirshner and the resulting creation of the album Headquarters. Though Micky's drumming was called unsteady, in fact outtakes showed that Micky's command of the instrument was quite solid, particularly on the many spontaneous jams Mike, Peter, and Davy Jones performed with the likes of John London. Despite that, though, Micky relinquished drumming to studio pros like "Fast Eddie" Ho for subsequent tracks. It was his superb voice, in any event, that was his greatest asset with the group. Whether in lead or in harmony with the others, Micky's voice made the group all the stronger; he was particularly effective in harmony with Mike Nesmith; "We always had a great combination", he said in 1990, and indeed, few singing tandems, then or now, compare as well as the tandem of Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith.

With the eventual break-up of The Monkees, Micky's career floundered for a few years (aggravated by substance abuse), despite good work in cartoon voiceover roles and touring with Davy Jones, Tommy Boyce, and Bobby Hart in the middle of the 1970s. His breakthrough came when he moved to London and began to direct, a trade he first began with The Monkees TV series. Micky stayed in London for many years and honed his directorial skills before returning to the US.

Micky has since toured repeatedly with The Monkees (even to returning to the drums for the full foursome's return LP "Justus"), directed television ads and other films, done additional voiceover work, guest-starred in such TV series as Mike Hammer, and even submitted full-color artwork for public witness. He has also seen the wedding of his actress daughter Ami Dolenz in 2002; Micky and his sister Coco, a priestess and accomplished singer in her own right, performed at the ceremony with such numbers as a perennial Micky favorite "Bye Bye Blackbird." His autobiography aptly sums up his life in showbiz - he is a survivor.
The Monkees (1966): $450/episode

Auditioned for the role of Fonzie on Happy Days. Member of The Monkees He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care." Father of Ami Dolenz. Son of actor George Dolenz Son of Janelle Johnson Dolenz. Owned the third Moog Synthesizer ever commercially sold (the first two belonged to Wendy Carlos and Buck Owens); his performance on the Monkees' song "Daily Nightly" (written by Michael Nesmith) was the first use of a synthesizer on a rock recording. He eventually sold his instrument to Bobby Sherman. Grew up playing guitar; had taken some lessons at the suggestion of Circus Boy's producers in the 1950s. In his teens, Dolenz played guitar and sang in a series of cover bands, with names like "Micky and the One-Nighters" and "The Missing Links" (!). One of these bands was signed to a record company and made some demos, which were released as singles (under his own name) after the Monkees became popular. When chosen for the role of the Monkees' drummer, he signed up for daily drum lessons in order to fake playing them well enough for the cameras. When being able to actually play became crucial to the Monkees project, he had gotten to the point where he could carry off a stage show, but playing drums and holding tempo proved difficult in the recording studio. He played drums on every track of their Headquarters album, but gladly relinquished the role to studio drummers for their later albums. Enjoyed crafts, hobbies and building things - including a Gyrocopter (sold as a kit in the 1960s and 70s) in his living room, but had to have a wall torn out to take it outside. Was drafted to serve in the U.S. Army in 1967 (as was Davy Jones); despite medical grounds for deferment (trouble with Perthese disease since childhood left him with one leg shorter than the other), Dolenz was told "Don't worry; we'll only make you fight on hillsides." Dolenz was eventually excused from military service for being underweight, when he went for his physical. (Jones was also excused, as his family's only source of support.) Married Samantha Juste of Britain's Top of the Pops fame in the summer of 1968, after she became pregnant with their daughter Ami Dolenz. His stepfather Dr. Robert Scott, a minister, conducted the ceremony at their Los Angeles home. Unlike Michael Nesmith and Davy Jones, who had had to keep their marriages a secret, he decided to share the news of his wedding with the public. Continued singing on records after the Monkees ended, with a series of singles contracts for labels like MGM; many of the records were made at his own home studio. While they usually found critical praise, none became hits. Dolenz also found work doing voiceovers for cartoons, like _"Funky Phantom" (1971)_ and Devlin. Dolenz and first wife Samantha Juste became famous for their large, sometimes wild house parties with lots of celebrities attending; Dolenz' occasional excesses with alcohol and drugs (during his early-70s career slump) was a factor in their marriage breaking up, as Sammy wanted their daughter Ami to have a stable home life. Renewed his friendship with singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson, who'd written for the Monkees, in the mid-1970s; Dolenz occasionally joined Nilsson and John Lennon in their legendary "nights out" (which sometimes lasted several days). Later Dolenz and Davy Jones appeared on the London stage in an adaptation of Nilsson's 'The Point'. After "The Point!" Dolenz found work in England producing television programs for the BBC (using the Monkees' final TV episode, which he'd directed and co-written, as his demo reel). Aside from the occasional business or family trip back (and also a few celebrity tennis matches), Dolenz didn't return to the U.S. for the next fifteen years. Quit the re-formed Monkees briefly at the end of the 1980s, citing problems with clashing egos and ideas, but returned for their next tour. Played the drums using a left-handed setup (bass drum on the left, hi-hat and snare drum on the right) even though he is right-handed. He wore a wig during the first season of the Monkees' TV show. His hair was naturally wavy and did not fit the image of the other three Monkees, which was straight. He would wet his hair down before each day of shooting and put on a mop- top, straight-haired wig. When the Monkees assumed a free-form image during the second season, he stopped wearing the wig, and sported the 'afro' look. Fared best of all the Monkees when it came to their royalty payments. While Tork gave most of his money away, Jones lost most of his in bad investments and Nesmith spent his on family luxuries and artistic projects, Dolenz trusted his mother Janelle to handle his money, which she invested carefully in "safe" stocks and holdings. He is the morning radio deejay on New York City's Oldies Station WCBS FM. The song "Hey Mickey" by Toni Basil back in the 80's was about the only "Mickey" she knew- Micky Dolenz. Toni choreographed the movie HEAD and was in the movie dancing with Davy in the harem scene. She went on to be in Easy Rider in 1969 (which involved Jack Nicholson and Bert Schneider, who were a big part of the movie HEAD). He was released with all the other disc jockeys in June 2005 from New York City's WCBS-FM, due to a format change.