Michael Jackson's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) E! True Hollywood Story Michael Jac… Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration Michael Jac… The Jim Nabors Hour Michael Jac… Love Chain Michael Jac… The Jacksons Michael Jac…

Main Movie Roles 2009 - This is It 2008 - Religulous 2004 - Miss Cast Away 2002 - Men In Black II 1994 - 71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls 1992 - Peter's Friends 1988 - Moonwalker 1986 - Captain EO 1985 - That's Dancing! 1978 - The Wiz

BIOGRAPHY:

American superstar Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, on August 29, 1958, and entertained audiences nearly his entire life. His father, Joe Jackson (III), had been a guitarist but was forced to give up his musical ambitions following his marriage to Katherine (Scruse). Together they prodded their growing family's musical interests at home. By the early 1960s, the older boys Jackie, Tito and Jermaine had begun performing around the city; by 1964, Michael and Marlon had joined in.

A musical prodigy, Michael's singing and dancing talents were amazingly mature, and he soon became the dominant voice and focus of The Jackson 5. An opening act for such soul groups as the O-Jays and James Brown (I), it was Gladys Knight (not Diana Ross (I)) who officially brought the group to Berry Gordy's attention, and by 1969, the boys were producing back-to-back chart-busting hits as Motown artists ("I Want You Back," "ABC," "Never Can Say Goodbye," "Got to Be There," etc.). As a product of the 1970s, the boys emerged as one of the most accomplished black pop/soul vocal groups in music history, successfully evolving from a group like The Temptations to a disco phenomenon.

Solo success for Michael was inevitable, and by the 1980s, he had become infinitely more popular than his brotherly group. Record sales consistently orbited, culminating in the biggest-selling album of all time, "Thriller" in 1982. A TV natural, he ventured rather uneasily into films, such as playing the Scarecrow in The Wiz (1978), but had much better luck with elaborate music videos.

In the 1990s, the downside as an 1980s pop phenomenon began to rear itself. Michael grew terribly child-like and introverted by his peerless celebrity. A rather timorous, androgynous figure to begin with, his physical appearance began to change drastically, and his behavior grew alarmingly bizarre, making him a consistent target for scandal-making, despite his numerous charitable acts. Two brief marriages -- one to Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie Presley -- were forged and two children produced by his second wife during that time, but the purposes behind them appeared image-oriented. Despite it all, Michael Jackson's passion and artistry as a singer, dancer, writer and businessman are unparalleled, and it is these prodigious talents that will ultimately prevail over the extremely negative aspects of his seriously troubled adult life.

For it all to end on June 25, 2009, with his sudden death at age 50 of a drug-induced cardiac arrest, just as he was coming out of a four-year reclusive period and rehearsing for a sold-out London concert "comeback" in July, seems uncommonly cruel and tragic. Millions upon millions of dedicated fans will remember where they were "the day Michael died".


TRIVIA:

• He had been scheduled to perform 50 sold-out concerts to over one million people at London's O2 arena, from July 13, 2009 to March 6, 2010, which he implied during a press conference would have been the final concerts of his career. Unfortunately he passed away before he could perform any of these shows. His rehearsals for the tour were documented in _This Is It (2009)_ (qv).
• His 1979 debut solo album "Off the Wall" has sold around 20 million copies worldwide.
• Ranked #11 in VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid Stars" with his brothers as the 'Jackson 5' (qv).
• Performed at the ball for President 'Bill Clinton (I)' (qv)'s first inauguration on 20 January 1993.
• The name of his 2700-acre ranch near Santa Ynez, California, is Neverland Valley Ranch. It contains Jackson's house, an amusement park co-designed by 'Macaulay Culkin' (qv), a private theater and dance stage, and exotic animals.
• In October 2002 it was revealed by various international banks that Jackson was in financial debt into the tens of millions of dollars due to various unpaid loans.
• At his peak, Jackson was reportedly worth around $1 Billion.
• President 'Ronald Reagan (I)' (qv) wanted to award a special White House medal to Jackson, 'Bob Hope (I)' (qv) and the late 'John Wayne (I)' (qv) in 1984. However, future Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts advised against the proposal, saying the award was too much for a pop singer.