List of Famous people named Michael

Michael Joseph Jackson was an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Through stage and video performances, he popularized complicated dance moves such as the moonwalk, to which he gave the name, and the robot. His sound and style have influenced artists of various genres, and his contributions to music, dance, and fashion, along with his publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades. Jackson is the most awarded artist in the history of popular music.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan, also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. He is the principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and of 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. He played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." He was integral in helping to popularize the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming a global cultural icon in the process.

Michael Schumacher is a retired German racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles and, at the time of his retirement from the sport in 2012, he held the records for the most wins (91), pole positions (68) and podium finishes (155)—which have since been broken by Lewis Hamilton—while he maintains the records for the most fastest laps (77) and the most races won in a single season (13), amongst others.

Michael Carrick is an English professional football coach and former player who is currently working as a first-team coach at Manchester United. He is one of the most decorated English footballers of all time and is best known for his 12-year playing career with Manchester United, whom he also captained. Carrick was a central midfielder, but he was used as an emergency centre-back under Alex Ferguson, David Moyes and Louis van Gaal. His playing style was grounded in his passing ability.

Robert Michael Nesmith is an American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman, and philanthropist, best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series The Monkees (1966–1968). Nesmith's songwriting credits include "Different Drum".

Michael John Douglas, known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He first rose to fame for his roles on the CBS sitcoms All's Fair and The Mary Tyler Moore Hour and his comedic film roles in Night Shift (1982), Mr. Mom (1983), Johnny Dangerously (1984), and Beetlejuice (1988). He earned further acclaim for his dramatic portrayal of the title character in Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992).

Michael Carlyle Hall is an American actor, musician, and producer. He is best known for his roles as Dexter Morgan, a serial killer and blood spatter analyst in the Showtime series Dexter, and as David Fisher in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under. In 2010, Hall won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role in Dexter. He has also acted in Broadway shows, narrated audiobooks, and sung for the band Princess Goes to the Butterfly Museum.

Sir Michael Francis O'Dwyer,, was an Irish Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer and later the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, British India between 1913 and 1919.

Michael Kenneth Williams is an American actor. He played Omar Little on the HBO drama series The Wire and Albert "Chalky" White on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. He was also acclaimed for his role as Jack Gee, husband of Bessie Smith, in the HBO telefilm biopic Bessie. He has acted in supporting roles in a number of films and television series, including The Road, Inherent Vice, The Night Of, Gone Baby Gone, 12 Years a Slave, When We Rise and When They See Us.

Michael Bakari Jordan is an American actor, film producer and film director. He is known for his film roles as shooting victim Oscar Grant in the drama Fruitvale Station (2013), boxer Adonis "Donnie" Creed in the Rocky sequel film Creed (2015), and Erik Killmonger in Black Panther (2018), all three of which were directed by Ryan Coogler.

Michael Christopher Sheen is a Welsh actor and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s and made notable stage appearances in Romeo and Juliet (1992), Don't Fool With Love (1993), Peer Gynt (1994), The Seagull (1995), The Homecoming (1997), and Henry V (1997). His performances in Amadeus at the Old Vic and Look Back in Anger at the National Theatre were nominated for Olivier Awards in 1998 and 1999, respectively. In 2003, he was nominated for a third Olivier Award for his performance in Caligula at the Donmar Warehouse.

Michael Clark Rockefeller was the fifth child of New York Governor and future U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, and a fourth-generation member of the Rockefeller family. He disappeared during an expedition in the Asmat region of southwestern Netherlands New Guinea, which is now a part of the Indonesian province of Papua. In 2014, Carl Hoffman published a book that went into detail about the inquest into his killing, in which villagers and tribal elders admit to Rockefeller being killed after he swam to shore in 1961. Despite these claims, no remains or other proof of his death have ever been discovered.

Michael Fred Phelps II is an American former competitive swimmer and the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). When he won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Phelps had already tied the record of eight medals of any color at a single Games by winning six gold and two bronze medals. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row.

Michael Anthony Richards is an American actor, writer, television producer and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian, first entering the national spotlight when he was featured on Billy Crystal's first cable TV special. He went on to become a series regular on ABC's Fridays. He made numerous guest appearances on a variety of television shows, such as Cheers. His film credits include So I Married an Axe Murderer, Airheads, Young Doctors in Love, Problem Child, Coneheads, UHF, and Trial and Error, one of his few starring roles.

Michael Fassbender is an Irish actor and racing driver. His feature film debut was in the fantasy war epic 300 (2007) as a Spartan warrior; his earlier roles included various stage productions, as well as starring roles on television such as in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (2001) and the Sky One fantasy drama Hex (2004–05). He first came to prominence for his role as IRA activist Bobby Sands in Hunger (2008), for which he won a British Independent Film Award. Subsequent roles include in the independent film Fish Tank (2009), as a Royal Marines lieutenant in Inglourious Basterds (2009), as Edward Rochester in the 2011 film adaptation of Jane Eyre, as Carl Jung in A Dangerous Method (2011), as the sentient android David 8 in Prometheus (2012) and its sequel, Alien: Covenant (2017), and in the musical comedy-drama Frank (2014) as an eccentric musician loosely inspired by Frank Sidebottom.

Sir Michael Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 5th Baronet is an American-born British television, film, music video, and theatre director. Beginning his career in British television, Lindsay-Hogg became a pioneer in music film production, directing promotional films for the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Following his work with these bands, he branched out into film and theatre, while still maintaining successful careers in television and music video production.

Michael Jerome Oher is a former American football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Ravens. He played college football for the University of Mississippi, where he earned unanimous All-American honors, and was selected by the Ravens in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He also played for the Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers.

Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AFI Life Achievement Award.

Michael Anthony Strahan is an American television personality, journalist and former professional football player who was a defensive end and spent his entire 15-year career with the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Strahan set a record for the most sacks in a season in 2001, and helped the Giants win Super Bowl XLII over the New England Patriots in his final season in 2007. After retiring from the NFL, he became a media personality. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014.

Michael Andrew Fox, known professionally as Michael J. Fox, is a Canadian-American retired actor, author, film producer and activist with a film and television career spanning from the 1970s to 2020. He starred in the Back to the Future trilogy in which he portrayed Marty McFly. On television, he played Alex P. Keaton on the NBC sitcom Family Ties (1982–1989) and Mike Flaherty on the ABC sitcom Spin City (1996–2000). He has won five Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, a Grammy Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.