Michael York, OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English actor. After performing on stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet (1968). He played leading roles in several major British and Hollywood films, especially in the 1970s.
His most notable roles include Konrad Ludwig in Something for Everyone (1970), Geoffrey Richter-Douglas in Zeppelin (1971), Brian Roberts in Cabaret (1972), George Conway in Lost Horizon (1973), D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers (also 1973) and its two sequels, Count Andrenyi in Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Logan 5 in Logan's Run (1976), and John the Baptist in Jesus of Nazareth (1977). In his later career, York found success as Basil Exposition in the Austin Powers film series (1997–2002).
York received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was also awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) at the 1996 Birthday Honours.
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Early life and education
Michael Hugh Johnson was born on 27 March 1942 in Fulmer, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, son of Florence Edith May Chown, a musician, and Joseph Gwynne Johnson, a Llandovery-born Welsh ex-Royal Artillery officer and businessman. York has an elder sister, Penelope Anne (born 1940) and younger twin sisters, Caroline and Bridget (born 1947); Bridget died a few hours after birth, according to York's autobiography. He was brought up in Burgess Hill, West Sussex.
York was educated at Bromley Grammar School for Boys, Hurstpierpoint College and University College, Oxford. He did some early acting at the community theatre Bromley Little Theatre (and later in 2014 became its president). This then led to his joining the National Youth Theatre, also performing with the Oxford University Dramatic Society and the University College Players. He began his career in a 1956 production of The Yellow Jacket. In 1959, he made his West End début with a small part in a production of Hamlet.
Career
Early work 1960s and 1970s
Prior to graduating with a degree in English from the University of Oxford in 1964, York had toured with the National Youth Theatre, After some time with the Dundee Repertory Theatre, where he played in Brendan Behan's The Hostage, York joined National Theatre under Laurence Olivier where he worked with Franco Zeffirelli during the 1965 staging of Much Ado About Nothing.
Following his role as Jolyon (Jolly) in three episodes of the classic black-and-white British miniseries The Forsyte Saga (1967), York made his film debut as Lucentio in Zeffirelli's The Taming of the Shrew (1967). He then was cast as Tybalt in Zeffirelli's 1968 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. He starred in The Guru (1969), then played an amoral bisexual drifter in Something for Everyone (1970). In the 1971 film Zeppelin, he portrayed a World War I soldier with conflicted family loyalties who pretends to side with the Germans. He portrayed the bisexual Brian Roberts in Bob Fosse's film version of Cabaret (1972). In 1975, he portrayed a British soldier in 19th century colonial India in Conduct Unbecoming, the first of three films he did with director Michael Anderson. In 1977, he reunited with Franco Zeffirelli as John the Baptist in Jesus of Nazareth.
York starred as D'Artagnan in the 1973 adaptation of The Three Musketeers and he made his Broadway début in the original production of Tennessee Williams's Out Cry. One year later the sequel to The Three Musketeers was released (roughly covering events in the second half of the book) titled The Four Musketeers. Fifteen years later, most of the cast (and crew) joined together in a third film titled The Return of the Musketeers based on the Dumas novel Twenty Years After. He played the title character in the film adaptation of Logan's Run (1976), a fugitive who tries to escape a computer-controlled society. The following year, he starred in The Island of Dr. Moreau opposite Burt Lancaster.
1980 to present
Following his early work in the late 1960s and the 1970s, York has had a varied career in film and television and on the stage. He appeared in two episodes in the second season of the Road to Avonlea series as Ezekiel Crane, the lighthouse keeper of Avonlea and foster father of Gus Pike. His Broadway theatre credits include Bent (1980), The Crucible (1992), Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (1993) and the ill-fated musical The Little Prince and the Aviator (1982), which closed during previews. He also has made many sound recordings as a reader, including Harper Audio's production of C. S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
York appeared in the 1996 Babylon 5 episode "A Late Delivery from Avalon" as a delusional man who believed himself to be King Arthur. Two years later he would play King Arthur in A Knight in Camelot. He also appeared as Professor Asher Fleming, a 60-year-old Yale professor and boyfriend of Yale student Paris Geller (Liza Weil) during the fourth season of Gilmore Girls. Additionally, York voiced numerous characters in the DC Animated Universe: Count Vertigo and Montague Kane in Batman: The Animated Series, Kanto in Superman: The Animated Series, and Ares in Justice League Unlimited. York starred in both The Omega Code and its sequel, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, as Stone Alexander, the Antichrist from Christian eschatology.
In 2002, York received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to motion pictures. He played President Alexander Bourne of Macaronesia on seaQuest 2032. He played Basil Exposition in all three of the Austin Powers films. He has made an appearance on The Simpsons as Mason Fairbanks, Homer Simpson's possible father, in "Homer's Paternity Coot". In 2006, York played the character Bernard Fremont (inspired by real life serial killer Charles Sobhraj) in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Slither". He also appeared as a fictionalised version of himself in several episodes of the third season of Curb Your Enthusiasm as an investor in Larry's new restaurant 'BoBo's. In 2009, he lent his voice to Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
York voiced Petrie's uncle Pterano in The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire. In 2009, he narrated the entire Bible for The Word of Promise Audio Bible, a performance of the New King James Version. York again played King Arthur in a revival of Lerner and Loewe's Camelot, which began its run at the La Mirada Theatre in Southern California, and toured nationally in 2006 and 2007.
Personal life
York met photographer Patricia McCallum in 1967 when she was assigned to photograph him, and they married on 27 March 1968, York's 26th birthday. His stepson is Young Indiana Jones and the Star Wars Special Editions producer Rick McCallum.
York was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1977.
Health problems
In 2013, York announced he was suffering from amyloidosis. Doctors initially thought he had bone cancer. He underwent a stem cell transplant, which can alleviate symptoms, in 2012.
In 2022, in order to be closer to the Mayo Clinic for treatment, York and his wife moved to Rochester, Minnesota.
