Michael Rapaport

Michael Rapaport Headshot

Actor • Comedian

Birth Name: Michael David Rapaport

Birth Date: March 20, 1970

Age: 54 years old

Birth Place: New York, New York

Character actor Michael Rapaport essayed larger-than-life figures on both sides of the law in countless features and television series for more than two decades, earning critical praise for dramatic work in "True Romance" (1993) and "Justified" (FX, 2010-15) and comic turns in "Mighty Aphrodite" (1995) while also cultivating an impressive second career as a documentarian, most notably with "Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest" (2011).

Born Michael David Rapaport on March 20, 1970 in New York City, he came from a family of broadcasters: his mother, June Brody, was an on-in personality, while his father was radio executive David Rapaport, who transformed the venerable WKTU into an all-disco format in the mid-1970s.

After graduating from high school, Rapaport headed west to try his hand at stand-up comedy, but found greater success as an actor on television and in features, beginning in 1992 with "Zebrahead," an independent drama about the tensions created by a romance between black and white teenagers (N'Bushe Wright and Rapaport, respectively).

However, his New York heritage and streetwise screen persona translated more directly to "wiseguy" roles - working class types ("Money for Nothing," 1993), small-time crooks ("Hand Gun," 1994), and second bananas in comedies like "The Pallbearer" (1996) and "Kicked in the Head" (1997).

His ability to enliven supporting roles in features like the Quentin Tarantino-penned "True Romance" (1993), which cast him as Christian Slater's hapless roommate, and as a student seduced by white supremacy in John Singleton's "Higher Learning" (1997), quickly established Rapaport as a talented player in both comic and dramatic fare.

For a period of time in the late '90s, Rapaport was a ubiquitous presence in major features, playing a sweet if slow-minded boxer in Woody Allen's "Mighty Aphrodite" (1995), a police officer wanted by corrupt fellow lawmen in James Mangold's "Cop Land," and a doomed engineer pursued by intelligent sharks in "Deep Blue Sea" (1998), among other roles.

His big screen cooled in the new millennium, though there were still high-profile turns in films like "The 6th Day" (2000) and Spike Lee's "Bamboozled" (2000); however, television offered more consistent and diverse work, including a recurring turn as a cop boyfriend to Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) on "Friends" (NBC, 1994-2004) and an amiable convict on "My Name is Earl" (NBC, 2005-09), two seasons on David E. Kelley's "Boston Public" (Fox, 2000-04) as teacher Danny Hanson, and two seasons as the star of "The War at Home" (Fox, 2005-07) as an opinionated Long Island insurance salesman.

During this period, Rapaport also parlayed his long-standing interest in hip-hop music into "Beats, Rhymes & Life" (2011), a critically praised documentary about the ground-breaking rap trio A Tribe Called Quest. He helmed a second documentary, "When the Garden Was Eden" (2014), about the New York Knicks in the 1970s, for ESPN's "30 for 30" (2009- ), as was a 2016 short, "Hard-Lovin' Woman," about actress Juliette Lewis's pursuit of a music career, and Rapaport also enjoyed notoriety as an outspoken basketball and culture commentator for Fox Sports and through his own podcast, I Am Rapaport.

However, acting continued to remain his primary career, and he maintained steady work as earthy characters in features like "The Heat" (2013), the boxing biopic "Chuck" (2016), with Liev Schreiber, and Clint Eastwood's "Sully" (2016). He was also a ubiquitous presence on television, both as a series regular on dramas like "Public Morals" (TNT, 2015) and a guest player, most notably in the fifth season of "Justified" (FX, 2010-2015) as the malevolent head of a Florida organized crime family, and as a fictional music manager in "The New Edition Story" (BET, 2017).

Credits

Glisten and the Merry Mission

Voice
Grizz
Movie
2023

I'll Be Right There

Actor
Marshall
Movie
2023

It Ain't Easy

Actor
Show
2022

Life & BethStream

Actor
Leonard
Series
2022
89%

Nick Cannon

Guest
Talk
2021

Conflicted

Actor
Mike
Show
2021

Celebrity Wheel of FortuneStream

Guest
Game Show
2021

Lights Out With David SpadeStream

Guest
Talk
2019

100%: Julian Edelman

Narrator
Movie
2019

Still Laugh-In: The Stars CelebrateStream

Actor
Special
2019

Martha & Snoop's Potluck Party Challenge

Guest
Show
2019

The DL Hughley Show

Guest
Show
2019

Access Live

Guest
Show
2017

WWE 365

Narrator
Show
2017

The Untitled Action Bronson Show

Guest
Show
2017

White FamousStream

Guest Star
Teddy Snow
Series
2017
53%

Daily Blast Live

Guest
Show
2017

DailyMailTV

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Show
2017

STEVE on Watch

Guest
Talk
2017

AtypicalStream

Actor
Doug
Series
2017
90%

The Guest BookStream

Guest Star
Adam
Series
2017
64%

Juliette Lewis: Hard Lovin' Woman

Actor
Show
2017

Adam Carolla and Friends Build Stuff Live

Guest
Show
2017

The $100,000 PyramidStream

Guest
Game Show
2016

Any Given Wednesday With Bill Simmons

Guest
Talk
2016

A Stand Up Guy

Actor
Colin
Movie
2016

The Bleeder

Actor
John
Movie
2016

The Late Show With Stephen ColbertStream

Guest
Talk
2015

Public MoralsStream

Actor
Charlie Bullman
Series
2015
82%

The Breakfast Club

Guest
Show
2015

Little Boy

Actor
James Busbee
Movie
2015

Living the Fantasy

Narrator
Movie
2015

My Man Is a Loser

Actor
Marty
Movie
2014

When the Garden Was Eden

Director
Movie
2014

Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest

Director
Show
2013

The Queen Latifah Show

Guest
Talk
2013

The Arsenio Hall Show

Guest
Show
2013

Last I Heard

Actor
Bobby
Movie
2013

Once Upon a Time in Queens

Actor
Bobby DiBianco
Movie
2013

The HeatStream

Actor
Jason Mullins
Movie
2013
66%

The Mob Doctor

Guest Star
Show
2012

Larry King NowStream

Guest
Talk
2012

Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs New York Knicks

Self
Show
2012

The Baytown Outlaws

Actor
Lucky
Movie
2012

Kiss of the Damned

Actor
Ben
Movie
2012

The Chew

Guest
Talk
2011

Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

Director
Movie
2011

Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

Screenwriter
Movie
2011

Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest

Writer
Movie
2011

Inside Out

Actor
Jack Small
Movie
2011

Pound PuppiesStream

Voice
Squirt
Series
2010

Raising HopeStream

Guest Star
Series
2010
96%

Access Hollywood Live

Guest
Show
2010

LouieStream

Guest Star
Lenny
Series
2010
93%

JustifiedStream

Guest Star
Series
2010
97%

Talk Stoop

Guest
Show
2010

Lopez Tonight

Guest
Show
2009

30 for 30Stream

Director
Series
2009

30 for 30Stream

Narrator
Series
2009

Accidentally on PurposeStream

Guest Star
Series
2009
30%

Watch What Happens Live With Andy CohenStream

Guest
Talk
2009

Watch What Happens Live With Andy CohenStream

Self
Talk
2009

Royal PainsStream

Guest Star
Stanley
Series
2009

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Guest
Talk
2009

A Day in the Life

Actor
Detective Grant
Movie
2009

Big Fan

Actor
Philadelphia Phil
Movie
2009

The Deported

Self
Movie
2009

The Wendy Williams Show

Guest
Talk
2008

The Wendy Williams Show

Host
Talk
2008

Tom Green's House Tonight

Guest
Show
2008

It Ain't Easy

Actor
Movie
2008

Assassination of a High School President

Actor
Coach Z
Movie
2008

The Big Bang TheoryStream

Guest Star
Kenny Fitzgerald
Series
2007
81%

GrilledStream

Actor
Bobby
Movie
2006

Special

Actor
Les
Movie
2006

Live Free or Die

Actor
Putney
Movie
2006

Push

Actor
Tommy G
Movie
2006

My Name Is EarlStream

Guest Star
Frank
Series
2005
82%

The War at Home

Actor
Dave Gold
Show
2005

Prison BreakStream

Actor
Donald Self
Series
2005
61%

HitchStream

Actor
Ben
Movie
2005
69%

Tavis Smiley

Guest
Talk
2004

America Brown

Actor
Daniel Brown
Movie
2004

A Good Night to Die

Actor
August
Movie
2003

This Girl's Life

Actor
Terry
Movie
2003

Last Call With Carson Daly

Guest
Talk
2002

Comic Book Villains

Actor
Norman
Movie
2002

Paper Soldiers

Actor
Mike E.
Movie
2002

Triggermen

Actor
Tommy O'Brian
Movie
2002

29 Palms

Actor
The Cop
Movie
2002

29 Palms

Executive Producer
Movie
2002

Chain of Fools

Actor
Hitman
Movie
2001

Dr. Dolittle 2Stream

Voice
Joey the Raccoon
Movie
2001
42%

Boston Public

Actor
Danny Hanson
Series
2000

Numer stulecia

Actor
Movie
2000

Small Time CrooksStream

Actor
Denny
Movie
2000
66%

Lucky Numbers

Actor
Dale the Thug
Movie
2000

Men of HonorStream

Actor
Snowhill
Movie
2000
42%

Bamboozled

Actor
Dunwitty
Movie
2000

The 6th DayStream

Actor
Hank
Movie
2000
40%

King of the Jungle

Actor
Francis
Movie
2000

Law & Order: Special Victims UnitStream

Guest Star
Richie Caskey
Series
1999
78%

The Daily Show With Jon StewartStream

Guest
Talk
1999

Deep Blue SeaStream

Actor
Tom Scoggins
Movie
1999
60%

Kiss Toledo Goodbye

Actor
Kevin Gower
Movie
1999

Palmetto

Actor
Donnely
Movie
1998

Some Girls

Actor
Neal
Movie
1998

Rescuers: Stories of Courage -- Two Families

Actor
Szarany
Movie
1998

The Naked Man

Actor
Edward Bliss Jr.
Movie
1998

MetroStream

Actor
Kevin McCall
Movie
1997
17%

Kicked in the Head

Actor
Stretch
Movie
1997

Subway Stories

Actor
Jake
Movie
1997

A Brother's Kiss

Actor
Stingy
Movie
1997

Cop LandStream

Actor
Murray "Superboy" Babitch
Movie
1997
75%

Un Beso Fraternal

Actor
Movie
1997

¡Hasta las Narices!

Actor
Movie
1996

Beautiful GirlsStream

Actor
Paul Kirkwood
Movie
1996
78%

The PallbearerStream

Actor
Brad Schorr
Movie
1996
48%

Illtown

Actor
Dante
Movie
1996

MADtvStream

Guest Star
Series
1995
43%

Higher LearningStream

Actor
Remy
Movie
1995
46%

The Basketball Diaries

Actor
Skinhead
Movie
1995
47%

Kiss of Death

Actor
Ronnie Gannon
Movie
1995

Mighty AphroditeStream

Actor
Kevin
Movie
1995
78%

FriendsStream

Guest Star
Gary
Series
1994
78%

ERStream

Guest Star
Paul Canterna
Series
1994

The Scout

Actor
Tommy Lacy
Movie
1994

NYPD BlueStream

Guest Star
Jaime DiLeo
Series
1993
83%

True RomanceStream

Actor
Dick Ritchie
Movie
1993
93%

Money for Nothing

Actor
Kenny Kozlowski
Movie
1993

Zebrahead

Actor
Zack
Movie
1992

The Fresh Prince of Bel-AirStream

Guest Star
Series
1990

The SimpsonsStream

Guest Voice
Mike Wegman
Series
1989
85%

Today

Guest
News
1952

News aboutMichael Rapaport