Mike Starr
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
A tall (6'3"), burly, and remarkably versatile character actor, Mike Starr built an impressive career with a steady stream of work, appearing consistently on screens big and small with dozens of memorable supporting performances. A Queens native who attended Hofstra University on both drama and football scholarships, Starr worked as a bartender and bouncer and appeared in regional theater productions while waiting for his acting break. The actor lensed a role in his first film "The Bushido Blade" (released in 1981) in 1978, working with veteran actor Richard Boone, an experience Starr has noted as an influence on his career. While the film remained shelved for years, he subsequently debuted to audiences as a patrolman in William Friedkin's controversial crime drama "Cruising" (1980). The actor appeared onstage in the 1983 Broadway flop "The Guys in the Truck," but rebounded the following year with roles in CBS' "Terrible Joe Moran" (James Cagney's TV-movie debut) and Barry Levinson's baseball homage "The Natural."
Often typecast as thugs, Mafia henchmen and police officers but just as effective as gentle giants and more cerebral characters, Starr was rarely at a loss for work. A role on Broadway in "Requiem For a Heavyweight" and turns in the features "The Last Dragon" and "The Protector" came in 1985. Appearances in the hit films "The Money Pit" (1986), "Radio Days" (1987) and "Punchline" (1988) as well as several others took him through the 1980s, finishing up the decade with 1989 turns in "Born on the Fourth of July" (featured alongside his brother, fellow actor Beau Starr) "Lean on Me," "Uncle Buck" and "Last Exit to Brooklyn." Starr started the 1990s with featured turns in the acclaimed organized crime dramas "GoodFellas" and "Miller's Crossing," and acted on television in the fact-based CBS desegregation miniseries "Common Ground" (all 1990). He returned to mob films with a role in the 1930s NYC-set gangster feature "Billy Bathgate" and gave a memorable supporting performance the following year, playing a bad guy who surprisingly falls in a battle with Kevin Costner's comparably tiny title character in "The Bodyguard" (1992).
In 1993, Starr was featured in the comedy "Mad Dog and Glory," with a sharply played comedic turn as Bill Murray's bodyguard that steered clear of gangster stereotypes. The following year he racked up a number of memorable if buffoonish film credits, taking beatings from Chris Elliot in "Cabin Boy" and Steven Seagal in "On Deadly Ground" and playing the man on the trail of two lovestruck idiots in the Farrelly brothers hit "Dumb and Dumber." He broke away from his usual roles in Tim Burton's "Ed Wood," playing Georgie Weiss, a slick producer who gives Wood his first green light. That same year Starr became a television regular with a role on the Fox sitcom "Hardball," playing veteran catcher and family man Mike Widmer. While the down-to-earth character was a good fit for the actor, the show suffered from low ratings and was dropped from the lineup. Also on the small screen that year, Starr had a memorable guest role on "Frasier" (NBC), playing the adult incarnation of a bully who tormented the Crane brothers in their youth.
Starr stayed busy through the latter half of the 90s with more character parts. He was featured as police officers in 1995's "Clockers" and "A Pyromaniac's Love Story" and 1996's live-action/animated children's adventure "James and the Giant Peach," playing a shady cop, a New Age-inspired officer and a friendly patrolman, respectively. From 1996-1997, he co-starred on the gritty CBS police drama "EZ Streets" as Mickey Kinnear, the brawn behind crime boss Jimmy Murtha (Joe Pantoliano). 1997 saw the actor take his first feature starring role in the independent comedy "The Deli." Here he starred as Johnny, a store owner on a losing streak who has to come up with the prize money for a winning numbers bet he neglected to enter for his mother. With a cast full of up and comers (Matt Keeslar, Gretchen Mol) as well as veteran character players (Burt Young, Jerry Stiller), "The Deli" was a charming and genuinely funny film, and proved that Starr could carry a movie as well as excel in supporting parts. 1998 saw the actor return to character roles, with a featured turn in Brian De Palma's suspenseful "Snake Eyes." Featured roles in Sidney Lumet's remake "Gloria" and Spike Lee's harrowing "Summer of Sam" followed in 1999.
A veritable constant in film, Starr began racking up more significant TV parts as the 90s drew to a close. A 1998-1999 two-episode recurring role on "Martial Law" (CBS) was followed by a similar double stint on the network's "Falcone" (which reteamed him with "EZ Streets" co-star Jason Gedrick and writer-producer Robert Moresco) in 2000. Between these appearances, Starr found time to star alongside Gene Wilder in the A&E original movies "Murder in a Small Town" and "The Lady in Question," playing the police detective teamed up with Wilder's Broadway director-turned-private investigator in the 1930s Connecticut-set mysteries. Fall of 2000 marked the actor's return to regular series work, with a co-starring role as Kenny, a quiet, quirky and overqualified bowling alley employee inherited by the eponymous new owner on NBC's "Ed." "Ed" was an exceptionally likable series, and proved a breakout hit of the new season. Its popularity gave hope of a strong future for the series, and a chance to see Starr develop his somewhat mysterious character further as the season progressed.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1980
Made screen debut in William Friedkin's controversial crime drama "Cruising"
1981
First film to be cast, "The Bushido Blade" (filmed in 1978)
1983
Featured in the short-lived Broadway play "The Guys in the Truck" (closed after one performance)
1984
TV-movie debut, "Terrible Joe Moran" (CBS)
1984
Appeared in Barry Levinson's "The Natural"
1985
Acted on Broadway in "Requiem For a Heavyweight"
1985
Had a cameo in "The Last Dragon"
1986
Appeared in "The Money Pit"
1987
Had a small role as a burglar in Woody Allen's "Radio Days"
1988
Acted in the TV-movie "Frank Nitti: The Enforcer" (ABC)
1989
Re-teamed with Allen for the "Oedipus Wrecks" segment of "New York Stories"
1990
Acted in the fact-based two-part desegregation miniseries "Common Ground" (CBS)
1990
Featured in the mob-themed dramas "GoodFellas" and "Miller's Crossing"
1991
Had a featured role in the 1930s NYC-set gangster drama "Billy Bathgate"
1992
Gave a memorable supporting performance as a man who tangles with "The Bodyguard"
1992
Acted in John Turturro's "Mac"
1993
Had a featured role in the comedy "Mad Dog and Glory"
1994
Played a supporting role in Tim Burton's "Ed Wood"
1994
Played a major league baseball catcher nearing the end of his career in the short-lived FOX sitcom "Hardball"
1994
Played the killer on the trail of two brainless bumblers in Peter Farrelly's "Dumb and Dumber"
1995
Featured in Spike Lee's "Clockers"
1996
Was a regular on the gritty but short-lived CBS crime drama series "EZ Streets"
1996
Played a friendly beat cop in the animated/live-action film "James and the Giant Peach"
1997
Starred in the independent comedy "The Deli" as a store owner caught up in the numbers racket
1998
Acted in a two-episode recurring role on the CBS crime drama series "Martial Law"
1998
Had a supporting role in Brian De Palma's thriller "Snake Eyes"
1999
Appeared in Sidney Lumet's "Gloria" and Spike Lee's "Summer of Sam"
1999
Featured in the A&E original movie "Murder in a Small Town" and its sequel "The Lady in Question" as a police detective
2000
Cast on the hit NBC hit series "Ed" as an overqualified bowling alley employee
2004
Had a recurring role in "Joan of Arcadia" (CBS) as Big Tough Guy God
2004
Appeared in Kevin Smith's "Jersey Girl" with Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler
2005
Co-starred with John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton in "The Ice Harvest"
2006
Played a detective in Brian De Palma's "The Black Dahlia"
2006
Took over for Brad Garrett as Murray the Cop in the Broadway production of "The Odd Couple"
2009
Had a supporting role in Nia Vardalos' directing debut "I Hate Valentine's Day"
Family
Companions
