Michael DeLorenzo

Michael DeLorenzo
Born	(1965-10-31)October 31, 1965 Bronx, New York
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actor, director, writer, producer, dancer, musician
Years active	1980-Present
Website	michaeldelorenzo.com

Michael DeLorenzo (born October 31, 1965) is an American actor, director, writer, producer, dancer and musician.

Life and family

Michael DeLorenzo was born and raised in the University Heights section of The Bronx, New York. His late father, Arthur DeLorenzo, was of Italian descent and his late mother, Carmen DeLorenzo, was from Puerto Rico.^[1] Michael is the second eldest of four children. He has one sister and two brothers.^[2]

Education and training

Michael DeLorenzo was born and raised in Bronx, New York, U.S.A. He first began performing at the age of seven as a dancer with Tina Ramirez's Ballet Hispanico. DeLorenzo went on to receive various scholarships from the School of American Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet and the New York School of Ballet. He danced alongside Rudolph Nureyev and the National Ballet of Canada. DeLorenzo performed with Mikhail Baryshnikov and the American Ballet Theatre. He went on to attend the Manhattan-based High School of Performing Arts, made famous by the movie and television series Fame. Shortly thereafter, while dancing he was injured, thus effecting his immediate entry into the world of acting.^[3]

Early career: Dancer / actor

One of DeLorenzo's first professional roles was on stage in the Broadway revival of West Side Story, appearing as one of the members of the Sharks. He then moved on to appear in the 1980 movie Fame and the television show Fame (1982-1987) as a series regular. DeLorenzo went on to land various guest star roles on popular television shows such as "Miami Vice". He appeared in movies such as Fast Forward (1985) directed by Sidney Poitier. ^{[4] [5]} Michael worked with artists such as Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and appeared in their music videos such as Beat it,^[6] Running with the Night, ^[7] and "Ballerina Girl"^[8]. He appeared in other music videos and dance performances such as Alexander O'Neal's "Fake". He was one of the main dancers during Chaka Khan's performance of "I Feel for You" at the 1985 Grammy Awards.^[9]

Actor

DeLorenzo's accomplishments and work includes the stage, film, and television. In a performance portraying five different roles, Michael won a Drama-Logue Award for Best Actor in a play at the Mark Taper Forum entitled "A Standup Tragedy" (1987). Based upon that performance, he was tapped by the producers of the ABC sitcom Head of the Class to star as Alex Torres, alongside Howard Hesseman during the last two seasons of the series (1989–1991). ^{[10] [11]} DeLorenzo appeared in Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men (1992) as Pfc. William T. Santiago with Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore, and as Rafael Cano in Alive (1993) with Ethan Hawke. ^[12]While filming Alive, he endured months of starvation and freezing cold atop a remote mountain in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. ^[13]

DeLorenzo's breakout role came in 1994 with Dick Wolf's urban drama "New York Undercover", where he played the role of Eddie Torres, the brooding cop with a heart. Michael won numerous awards for his portrayal. In addition, DeLorenzo's starring role as NYPD Detective Eddie Torres opposite fellow actor Malik Yoba made television history. It was the first time that a police drama on American television featured two people of color in the starring roles.^[14]. DeLorenzo went on to star in the acclaimed Showtime drama "Resurrection Blvd." DeLorenzo played the embittered boxing champion Carlos Santiago. For his performance, DeLorenzo won numerous awards, such as the Imagen Award for Best Actor and the Vision Award for Best Performance in Drama.^[15]

DeLorenzo continued to guest-star in other notable TV shows: as Rico Cerda in CSI: NY - Season 2, Episode 16, "Cool Hunter" (2006); as Nacio Duque in Numb3rs (2007); as Richard Sanchez in Ghost Whisperer (2007); and as Carlos Santiago in CSI: Miami - Season 6, Episode 18, "Tunnel Vision" (2008).^[16] DeLorenzo also continues to appear in various independent feature films. On May 25, 2013, he won the award for Best Supporting Actor at the Los Angeles Movie Awards for his role as Keith Caverns ^[17] in The Employer.

Michael DeLorenzo delivered a powerful performance as the complex and entangled paraplegic witness, Fausto in "Mob Rules" the 4th episode of the 7th season of the CBS police procedural drama Blue Bloods (2016).^{[18] [19]} DeLorenzo delivered a heartfelt performance as José Sarria, a political LGBT activist in the Academy-Award winner, Dustin Lance Black's "When We Rise"(2017), directed by Gus Van Sant.^{[20] [21]} Michael DeLorenzo continues to appear in notable roles in film and television.

Director

During his time at Showtime, Michael directed episodes of Resurrection Blvd., which were among the highest rated of the entire series. ^{[22] [23]} He has also directed and produced other films, short films, and music videos featuring new and upcoming artists. He wrote and directed the short film ″It Can Only Be Used Once″ (2014). ^[24] Michael DeLorenzo has also produced and directed music videos featuring new upcoming artists. ^[25]

Musician

DeLorenzo is also a vocalist, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. DeLorenzo plays the guitar, the drums and the piano. He partnered with an R&B girl group called Teen Dream, under the moniker "Valentino" and released the single, "Get Busy" (1987). In the mid- to late 1990s during his tenure on New York Undercover, some of his songs appeared on the popular show's soundtracks – one of them entitled, "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight".^[26] His songs also have appeared on Showtime's Resurrection Blvd. Michael has also co-written music for The Sims 2 video game called Angel.^[27] DeLorenzo's most recent debut music album entitled Rescue Me^{[28] [29] [30]} is a mix of Pop/Latin/R&B.

Filmography

Film and television^[31]

Music videos^{[32] [33]}

• Michael Jackson: “Beat It”
• Lionel Richie: “Ballerina Girl”
• Alexander O’Neal: “Fake”
• Lionel Richie: “Running with the Night”

Stage^{[34] [35]}

• “Fool For Love” at the Madrid Theatre
• “Stand Up Tragedy” at the Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, CA
• "Streetheat" on Broadway, New York, NY
• “Tumbleweed” at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, Los Angeles, CA
• “West Side Story” on Broadway, New York, NY
• “Paperbird” in New York, NY
• “Aria Dacapa” in New York, NY

Discography

Rescue Me (2009)^{[36] [37]}

Video Game

• The Sims 2: Castaway Video Game (2007), “Angel” – co-written by Michael DeLorenzo

TV soundtracks

• Resurrection Blvd. TV Soundtrack Album (2000), Track No. 12: “On & On” – Michael DeLorenzo
• New York Undercover TV Soundtrack Album (1998), Track No. 5: “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” – Michael DeLorenzo

See also

• List of famous Italians
• List of famous Puerto Ricans

References

External links

• Website
• Facebook
• MySpace
• Michael DeLorenzo on IMDb
• Twitter
• Instagram
• YouTube Channel