Michael Des Barres Bio - Michael Des Barres Biography

Michael Des Barres: Biography

Former hard rock singer and front man, Michael has fronted as part of "Detective" and "Power Station", in connection with Led Zeppelin and Duran Duran. Longtime friend of Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and later married his girlfriend, Pamela Miller. Now works primarily in the states as an actor.

Michael: I had more record deals than most people have haircuts.(edit)
Michael: Some people think of me as the character in band, some think of me as a serious thespian. Some know me as a dilettante famous for being famous. It's all true, darling!(edit)
Michael: Rock `n` roll will always run through my veins.(edit)
Michael: I love Rosie and Tom madly - they`re the Sid and Nancy of network television. That show is the best fun. Hard work? No. People who work in factories, people who`re on their feet all day, work hard. I get 1 1/2 packets of Sweet `n Low brought to me every 20 minutes, a parking spot with my name on it. It's the greatest thing in the world.(edit)
Michael: First of all, music is such an extraordinary thing because people can form allegiances, can fall in love to it, can have sex to it, can hike to it, it`s such a part of our heartbeat. I think that, rightly or wrongly, rock and roll stars have become spokespeople, which is interesting, especially when someone asks Britney Spears what she thinks of Kosovo.(edit)
Michael Des Barres: The problem with rock and roll projects is that they are so riddled with clich�s. Every script I've ever read about a rock star pretty much sucks. I was offered one the other day about a drummer and his name was Skins. OK? I read another one where the character`s name was Jack Daniels. So that`s the level of rock`n`roll movies and none of them have worked because they`re not about people. They`re about what people assume rock and roll is, but Sugar Town is about people.(edit)

In 1987, Michael was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Original Song for his song Nine 1/2 Weeks.(edit)
Michael formed the Michael Des Barres and Free Love Foundation in 2006.(edit)
Michael enjoys writing movie scripts and volunteering for homeless teens.(edit)
Michael held a writing course at Santa Barbara University.(edit)
Michael organizes the "Don't Knock The Rock" film festival.(edit)
In 2002, Michael won Best Actor at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival for his role in Ocean Park.(edit)
In 2001, Michael formed the band Down Boy.(edit)
Michael attended the Corona Academy drama school in London.(edit)
Michael went to Repton boarding school. He was kicked out when he was 16 because his hair was too long.(edit)
Michael's parents separated shortly after he was born; Michael grew up living with his mother.(edit)
Michael's father, Philip, was a real marquis and an aristocrat. Michael's mother, Irene, was a jazz singer.(edit)
Michael's first wife was Wendy Hamilton; they divorced in 1974.(edit)
Michael co-wrote "We Fight For Love", the end-title-song for Commando (1985).(edit)
Michael appeared on the original WKRP in Cincinnati (1978) as Sir Charles Dog Weatherbee. Fourteen years later, he became a regular cast member of The New WKRP in Cincinnati (1991) as Jack Allen.(edit)
Michael married Pamela Des Barres on October 29, 1977, but they later divorced in 1991.(edit)
Michael has one child named Nicholas Dean Des Barres which was born on September 30, 1978.(edit)
Michael is 5'8�" (1.74 m).(edit)
His character of Murdoc which he played on MacGyver was only slated to have a one-time appearance on the show. But producers Henry Winkler and John Rich thought he did such a good job, so they gave him a recurring role.(edit)
He wrote the lyrics to the song "Cleo Rocks" for the season 4 episode of MacGyver of the same name.(edit)
Michael was born just ten days (within the same year) before fellow rock impresario Alice Cooper.(edit)
His last name is pronounced "Deb-Barr."(edit)