Michael DeLorenzo
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| Michael DeLorenzo | |
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| Born | October 31, 1959 Bronx, New York, United States |
Michael DeLorenzo (born October 31, 1959 in The Bronx, New York) is an American actor.
[edit] Career
Of Italian and Puerto Rican descent, DeLorenzo started out as a dancer in Michael Jackson's popular music video Beat It, and in both the motion picture Fame and the Fame television series. After the conclusion of the series, Michael revealed his singing ability by partnering with an R & B girl group called Teen Dream, under the moniker "Valentino" and released the single, "Get Busy." He appears in the music video as a paper doll cut out. He is perhaps best known as Detective Eddie Torres, on the FOX series New York Undercover for three seasons (1994-97). Although DeLorenzo started dancing at the High School for the Performing Arts in New York (the setting for Fame), he always had acting on his mind. When one of the Fame series leads had personal problems, he was picked from the chorus line to act in several episodes, and continued to do so on and off.
Bigger parts were elusive. Although he was a regular on The Bronx Zoo (NBC, 1987), in features he managed only a small role as a thug who recognizes Whoopi Goldberg as a narc in Fatal Beauty (1987). Although larger feature parts still proved elusive, DeLorenzo joined the cast of the ABC sitcom Head of the Class for two seasons (1989-91) as the wolfish Alex Torres. He and co-star Malik Yoba made TV history in New York Undercover; no other cop series had featured non-white males in leading roles and lasted more than one season.
DeLorenzo's feature work also picked up in the 90s. He was Private First Class William T. Santiago, the object of the drama, in A Few Good Men (1992) and Rafael Cano in Alive: The Miracle of the Andes (1993). He was also Butch Mejia, a doomed rival gang leader, in My Family/Mi Familia (1995). He also appeared as Rosie Perez's suitor in Somebody to Love (filmed in 1994, released theatrically in 1996). DeLorenzo's stage work has been sporadic, but he did star in Stand-Up Tragedy at the prestigious Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 1989 and was much praised for his work. He also played the role of a boxer Carlos Santiago in Resurrection Blvd in the Showtime original series from 2000-2002. While cast in Resurrection Blvd he also directed two episodes.
His most recent television appearance is in the second season of the series CSI: New York, in an episode titled "Cool Hunter". He played the role of talent scout Rico Cerda who was responsible for the main crime of the episode. DeLorenzo appeared in the sixth season of the series CSI:Miami, in an episode titled "Tunnel Vision", playing the role of Carlos. He is currently single and resides in Los Angeles.
