Michael Rosenbaum
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Michael Owen Rosenbaum (born July 11, 1972) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for portraying Lex Luthor on Smallville. Rosenbaum has also done film and other voiceover work.
Career
Once in New York, an MTV Networks intern named Vincent Letizia spotted his 8 x 10 black and white photo in a batch of other casting submissions for a pilot called "Talk Girl." The pilot was never green-lighted, but Rosenbaum stood out as a newly discovered talent. A new MTV pilot was conceived specifically for Michael with the working title of "The Michael Rosenbaum Project." The project later became known as "The Temp" and covered Rosenbaum in a reality TV setting as a temp, who would walk into a different job each day. The pilot featured Rosenbaum as a Cat filling in on Broadway's "Cats" musical, and as a zoo keeper filling in at the zoo, sweeping animal manure and the like. The pilot never took off with MTV Executives. It was the mid 1990s before the mega boom of Reality TV and though the show was good, it was possibly before its time. This turned out to be a good thing for Rosenbaum who shortly thereafter left for Los Angeles where his talents could be showcased to a wider audience.
In 2001, Rosenbaum received a Saturn Award for his portrayal of Lex Luthor on Smallville. Continuing in the comic book genre, he voiced Wally West (a.k.a. Flash) in the DC Comics animated series Justice League. In February of 2007, Rosenbaum confirmed that he would be leaving Smallville after the show's seventh season. However, he may return as an occasional special guest star, as the show has been picked up for an eighth season on the CW Network.
Rosenbaum has a few notable vocal impressions in his repertoire, including Christopher Walken, Keanu Reeves, and Kevin Spacey. The makers of the DCAU have used these impressions in their work, having Rosenbaum do his Walken voice for Ghoul in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and his Spacey voice for Deadshot; ironically, Spacey portrayed Lex Luthor in the film Superman Returns.
Cartoon Parts
- Batman Beyond (1999-2001) (various characters)
- Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000) (as Ghoul)
- Justice League (2001-2004) (as The Flash and Deadshot)
- Justice League Unlimited (2004-2006) (as The Flash, Deadshot, Ghoul and Doctor Polaris)
- In the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Great Brain Robbery," the Flash trades bodies with Lex Luthor for a brief period of time. The voice actors continued to provide the voices of their character's normal bodies, so The Flash's body still sounded like the Flash, even while it was inhabited by Luthor's mind. Thus, Rosenbaum voiced Lex Luthor for most of the episode, the same role he has on Smallville.
- The Zeta Project (2001-2002) (as Agent West)
- Static Shock (2000-2004) (Trapper (Series 1, 2 & 4), various voices, and guest appearance as The Flash in a 2003 episode)
- Jackie Chan Adventures (2000-2005) as Drago.
- Teen Titans (2005) as Kid Flash
Personal Interests
Rosenbaum is a big New York Rangers fan and often plays in charity hockey games. His favorite band is Guns N' Roses. In an episode of MTV Cribs, Rosenbaum shows his love of singing, karaoke, exercising and Captain Crunch. He is left-handed.
