Stephen Macht

Infobox actor
name = Stephen Macht

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birthdate = birth date and age|1942|05|01
birthplace = flagicon|United States Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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occupation = Actor
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spouse = Suzanne Victoria Pulier (1964-present)
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Stephen Macht (born May 1, 1942) is an American television and film actor.

Biography

Early life

Macht was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a cousin of producer Jon Macht. [http://www.filmreference.com/film/31/Stephen-Macht.html Stephen Macht Biography (1942-) ] ] Macht was raised in Brooklyn Heights, NY, until his father's death. At age nine, he moved with his mother and older brother to live with his maternal grandfather, a haberdasher, in Mystic, CT. After graduating from Dartmouth College (where he roomed with future actor Michael Moriarty), Macht obtained two graduate degrees (including a Ph.D.) and became adept in Aristotelian concepts. Macht studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and wrote his Ph.D. Dissertation on the History of Acting Training at L.A.M.D.A. He has also trained with Milton Katselas at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. While teaching at Queens College, he received approval by his department chair to appear in plays in New York in lieu of publishing scholarly articles as part of the tenure track.

Career

Spotted by a Universal Studios talent scout while starring at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada in 1975, Macht was signed to a contract and by the mid 1970s had left teaching and was making frequent appearances in TV episodes and movies.

Dark, with a solid build, Macht was often cast in ethnic roles (i.e., Jews, Italians and Native Americans) such as "Raid on Entebbe" (NBC, 1977), where he portrayed Yonni Netanyahu, the Israeli officer killed in the rescue of hostages in Uganda. In 1978 Macht had a big break as the lead in "The Immigrants" a syndicated miniseries about the rise of the son of Italian immigrants in turn-of-the-century San Francisco.

The success of the TV-movie "American Dream" (ABC, 1981) led to a critically acclaimed short-lived series which cast Macht in the role of a family man who chucks the suburban life to set up home in the inner city of Chicago. The following season, he landed the role of the brother of Karen MacKenzie (Michele Lee) on "Knots Landing" (CBS, 1982-83). The actor, however, found more challenging roles in TV longforms. Notable roles included playing Nancy McKeon's father in "Strange Voices" (NBC, 1987). He was Benedict Arnold in the 1984 CBS miniseries "George Washington" and one of the survivors of "" (NBC, 1984). Macht spent three seasons (1985-88) in the recurring role of David Keeler, love interest to Det. Chris Cagney (Sharon Gless), on "Cagney & Lacey" (CBS). During his run on the show, he moved behind the cameras to make his directorial debut.

In 1993, Macht played Krim Aldos in an early Season 2 episode of ', "". This was after he was seriously considered for both the roles of Captain Picard and Commander Riker during the casting of '. [ [http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Stephen_Macht Stephen Macht at Memory Alpha.org] ] [ [http://ds9encyclopedia.0catch.com/ds9chron.htm DS9 Chronicles at ds9encyclopedia.com] ]

More recent credits have included playing an Austrian Jew who must be baptized along with his wife and daughter in order to escape the Nazis in "A Friendship in Vienna" (The Disney Channel, 1988); a doctor helping Jane Seymour in the syndicated miniseries "Sidney Sheldon's Memories of Midnight" (1991); and cult member Joan Van Ark's suffering husband in "" (NBC, 1994). In 1996 he did a six-month stint on the ABC daytime drama "One Life to Live" as Elliot Durban, a psychiatrist and gambling addict blackmailed into hypnotising Victoria Lord Buchanan (Erika Slezak). As of August 24, 2007 he is playing Trevor Lansing, attorney of organized crime boss Anthony Zacchara and father of attorney Ric Lansing, in the soap opera "General Hospital" for which "Soap Opera Digest" nominated him Best Villain of 2007.

Macht's work in feature films has been more sporadic, beginning with a turn as one of "The Choirboys" (1977). He also had roles in "The Mountain Men" (1980), "The Monster Squad" (1987), "Stephen King's Graveyard Shift" (1990), and "Watchers Reborn" (1998). Macht has also played Dr. Harris in three entries in the "Trancers" series.

Personal life

Macht has been married to archivist/museum curator Suzanne Victoria Pulier since 1964. He has four children: Jesse, Julie, Ari Serbin, and actor Gabriel Macht. Macht has studied to be a rabbi. [ [http://sdjewishjournal.com.p11.hostingprod.com/stories/xarchive.php?id=320 Jewish News :: San Diego Jewish Journal :: RETURN OF THE KING, May 2005 ] ]

Education

* Dartmouth College: B.A., 1963: Drama Major
* Tufts University: M.A., 1967: Drama Major
* Indiana University: Ph.D., 1970: Dramatic Literature/Criticism/Theatre History

References

External links

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