Actor / Director Profile

Michael Fishman, the gregarious child has grown into a distinguished actor with interests in entertainment as varied as his heritage. Although his primary focus remains acting, through various productions companies he has expanded into writing and producing. He continues to expand his repertoire to not only perform but create.He entered show business in 1987 at the age of 5. His older sister Robyn wanted to earn money for college and Michael found himself going along for auditions. His career began after meeting Roseanne Barr during an early audition. Even with no experience Roseanne pushed for him because of "his fearlessness and comic timing". He booked the role as D.J. Connor as Roseanne began a run as the number one show on television.Both siblings: older sister Robyn, and younger brother Matthew Also became actors. Robyn had a recurring role on Thirty Something before it was canceled. She appears in every Halloween episode of Roseanne. Matthew appeared in the Roseanne episode ''The Fifties Show'' as Stinky Connor.Michael's character on Roseanne, D.J. was famous for cutting up Barbie dolls and peaking at his sisters and their neighbors. As he grew the character became more dynamic and D.J. became a gateway to social issues. Roseanne believed, "Michael was always strong enough for us to use D.J. to make a statement". Episodes focused on D.J. included ground breaking television topics such as masturbation, religion, poverty, and even racism.Along with ground breaking social issues Fishman was also featured in numerous credit tags. These famous credit tags include being on a space ship, flirting with Sharon Stone, and impersonating Charlton Heston as Moses from The Ten Commandments among others. During later seasons he even dressed in drag and played Roseanne as a child, on a day's notice, in order to keep production going when Roseanne was placed on emergency bed rest due to pregnancy.After nine seasons, six as the number one show on television and never outside the top thirty, Roseanne ended in 1997. Fishman returned to public high school in Los Alamitos California. He attended the prestigious Orange County High School of the Arts first performing in Musical Theater and later expanding his skills in the Technical Theater department.After growing up in the entertainment industry his parents encouraged him to move on to a more traditional line of work. Michael however knew he already was in the business he loved. He went on to earn roles on Seinfeld opposite Jerry Seinfeld and James Spader. He then worked on Hitz, paired with Andrew Dice Clay. He then played a villain on Walker Texas Ranger in which he did his own stunts.He later married his wife, Jennifer and after his first child was born he returned to television as the "Cyber Sidekick" co-host on The Roseanne Barr Talk Show. When his wife got pregnant with their second child Michael moved behind the camera so he could be active in his children's early years.Although Michael worked in numerous fields he always loved one more than the rest. After the death of close friend and co-star 'Glenn Quinn (I)' in 2002, Michael returned to the entertainment industry. He's credited with everything from set building, set design, camera operating, assistant directing and even props. This included helping Roseanne as she produced her "Rockin' with Roseanne" children's video. Michael was even among Nominated for an Emmy among a group in "Outstanding Set Design / Art Direction" on Sports Science in 2007. He was the primary builder and fabricator among the Art Department.Michael has increasingly focused on writing as he works to produce some of his own original works in addition to pursuing the right return as an actor.