Michael Wiseman

Michael Wiseman is an experienced, versatile actor who is best known for playing Mafia boss “Johnny Rizzo” on the TV Series Vegas.  Born on April 12, 1967 in Northern California, he grew up in Lafayette where his mother taught at their local elementary school for 35 years and his grandfather owned a local restaurant.

 

From an early age, Michael knew he wanted to be an actor—even listing it as his stated goal in his Jr. high school yearbook.  Days after graduating high school, Michael moved south—determined to achieve his dream.  He began a rigorous intro to the arts in college—where he studied dance (Ballet and Jazz), singing, stage design, lighting, and acting.  He then went on to attend Robert F Lyons Acting Academy in Los Angeles with focuses on Scene Study, Cold Reading, and extensive Improvisation.  He began performing at several Los Angeles theaters while continuing to study under Robert F, including taking his Masterclass for 5 years.

 

A first job in Los Angeles working for Joel Silver at Silver Pictures on the Warner Bros lot led to many connections and insights about the business while picking up or delivering scripts to studios such as Fox, Disney, Sony, and Paramount. Out of that, he met director Stephen Hopkins who changed his course by getting him a line in the movie Predator 2 (Staring Danny Glover and Gary Busey)—earning him his SAG card and sending him on his way.

 

From there, Michael’s acting career began to take shape. A first TV role on the series Cheers (Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman), was followed by a part in the Feature Film Judgment Night (Director Stephen Hopkins), along with guest roles in Melrose Place (Heather Locklear), Renegade (Lorenzo Lamas), and Walker Texas Ranger (Chuck Norris).

 

His first big break came when he was cast for a 3-episode arc in NYPD Blue (Jimmy Smits), playing the character Tommy Richardson.  The character was very well received by critics and Michael landed a stream of guest star and recurring roles in other popular shows including Diagnosis Murder (Dick Van Dyke), Nash Bridges (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe), The Pretender (Michael T. Weiss), JAG (David James Elliott), Star Trek Voyager (Kate Mulgrew), The X-Files (Gillian Anderson), Judging Amy (Amy Brenneman), CSI Miami (David Caruso), Cold Case (Kathryn Morris), The Closer (Kyra Sedgwick), Boston Legal (William Shatner), Nip/Tuck (Dylan Walsh), Prison Break (Dominic Purcell), The Mentalist (Simon Baker), and Lie to Me (Tim Roth) along with major supporting roles in the Mystery-Thriller films: Rancid (Fay Masterson) and The Wicker Man (Nicholas Cage).

 

After a brief lull which left him questioning whether it was time to move on, Michael had his greatest acting experience to date when he landed the role of the suave but hotheaded Chicago mobster Johnny Rizzo, a character who spanned 10 episodes, on the TV Series Vegas (starring opposite Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis).

 

Since Vegas, Michael has continued to act in popular shows such as: NCIS (Mark Harmon), and Scorpion (Elyes Gabel); and multiple films including: Running Wild (Sharon Stone), Pray for Rain (Jane Seymour), and In Search of Fellini (Ksenia Solo)—in theatres: summer of 2017.

 

Besides acting, Michael enjoys skiing, golf, spending time with his family, and doing as much Yoga as time permits. He has been married to actress and Emmy-nominated makeup artist Caroline Keenan-Wiseman since 2001. They have two children.