Michael Sheen Biography

though often noted for his portrayals of real life characters - Tony Blair, Kenneth Williams, David Frost and Brian Clough - Michael Sheen has proven himself to be a master in most genres. Take his decadent fops in Wilde and Bright Young Things, his lovelorn simpleton in Heartlands, his hard-bodied werewolf in Underworld, his obsessive-compulsive architect in Dirty Filthy Love, his palsied but brilliant activist in Music Within, his smirking, petulant rock star in Laws Of Attraction - seldom has an actor challenged himself so gravely in such a wild variety of roles. Add to this his stage triumphs as Mozart, Romeo, Jimmy Porter, Henry V and Caligula and we're clearly talking about a very special performer, indeed.

Michael Sheen was born in Newport, Monmouthshire on the 5th of February, 1969. Michael Sheen father Meyrick (pronounced My-rick) worked in human resources, while his mother, Irene, was a secretary. They'd married back in 1962. After Michael, they would have a daughter, Joanne.

Perhaps influencing Michael's future choice of career, there had been entertainers in the family. Michael Sheen great-great-grandmother, Mary Ann Blower, was the first female lion tamer and elephant trainer in the UK and had taken off for America in 1896 on the SS Campania, accompanied by the Shakespearian actor Charles North, and the impresario Frank C Bostock, the world's most famous animal trainer and exhibitor. Bostock would tour worldwide with shows featuring Rama Sami the wild man (actually an English cobbler), Wallace the man-eating tiger and also the first ever boxing kangaroo. 


Far closer to Michael in the family tree, his father Meyrick was something of a singer and a respected member of the Port Talbot operatic society. While playing General Birabeau in The Desert Song, Meyrick would give Michael his stage debut, carrying him up under the lights when he was just 6 weeks old. Later, Meyrick would enjoy a little Hollywood glamour of his own, finding work as a Jack Nicholson look-a-like. In shades he was a dead ringer, though when he spoke it was clear he was very, very Welsh.