Granite City High School
Class of 1960

Michael Genovese and his family (father, Pete; mother, Dean Way; and sister, Elaina Genovese Dunson) moved from St. Louis to Granite City in 1956. During that time, Mike attended Granite City High School and was active in sports and drama activities. He graduated from GCHS in 1960 and then attended Eastern Illinois University where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education, majoring in Speech and Drama. Mike lived in Granite City until 1965. Mike also attended St. Louis University and earned a Master of Arts in Education from St. Louis University, where he again majored in Speech and Drama.

Mike taught at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, and at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois, in the K-12 Lab School from 1966 to 1969. In 1969, Mike accepted a teaching position at Webster College in the Theatre Conservatory in Webster Groves, Missouri, where he taught acting and theatre history for four years. Mike also trained prison guards, police and public housing security guards in “Crisis Intervention Techniques” using his acting students to improvise crisis situations.

It was also in 1969 that Mike began his professional acting career. While at Webster College, Mike became a member of the resident acting company in the Loretto Hilton Repertory Theatre, now the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Since that time, Mike has appeared in approximately 100 plays, several dozen films, and over 100 episodes of various television series and television movies.

Theatre performances include roles in “the Iceman Cometh” with Jason Robards, “Catch Me If You Can” with Ray Walston, and a critically acclaimed production in both Los Angeles and San Diego, California, of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” with his wife of twenty-four years, Ellen Crawford. Mike has performed from Scottsbluff, Nebraska, and Lewistown, Maine, to New York, Chicago, and Washington D.C.

Feature film roles include performances in “Cries of Silence”, “Blood in Blood Out”, “Dark Angel: The Ascent”, “Code of Silence” with Chuck Norris, “Harlem Nights” with Eddie Murphy, “Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling” with Richard Pryor, and “Best of the Best 2” with Eric Roberts.

Television appearances include everything from “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “Family Matters” to “Quantum Leap” and “NYPD Blue”. Mike has had reoccurring or regular roles on “the Flash”, “Reasonable Doubts”, “Arliss”, “Family Matters”, “Viper”, and “ER” where he and his wife, Ellen Crawford, played characters who married on the show.

Mike is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association, the Screen Actors’ Guild, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

More than the awards and the good reviews, what pleases Mike the most is that he has been a successful working actor for over thirty years. Children, Sean, Erin, and Meghan, have happy and productive lives. Life with Ellen Crawford continues to be grand. Human behavior is still a joy to portray.

Mike taught at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, and at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois, in the K-12 Lab School from 1966 to 1969. In 1969, Mike accepted a teaching position at Webster College in the Theatre Conservatory in Webster Groves, Missouri, where he taught acting and theatre history for four years. Mike also trained prison guards, police and public housing security guards in “Crisis Intervention Techniques” using his acting students to improvise crisis situations.

It was also in 1969 that Mike began his professional acting career. While at Webster College, Mike became a member of the resident acting company in the Loretto Hilton Repertory Theatre, now the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Since that time, Mike has appeared in approximately 100 plays, several dozen films, and over 100 episodes of various television series and television movies.

Theatre performances include roles in “the Iceman Cometh” with Jason Robards, “Catch Me If You Can” with Ray Walston, and a critically acclaimed production in both Los Angeles and San Diego, California, of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” with his wife of twenty-four years, Ellen Crawford. Mike has performed from Scottsbluff, Nebraska, and Lewistown, Maine, to New York, Chicago, and Washington D.C.

Feature film roles include performances in “Cries of Silence”, “Blood in Blood Out”, “Dark Angel: The Ascent”, “Code of Silence” with Chuck Norris, “Harlem Nights” with Eddie Murphy, “Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling” with Richard Pryor, and “Best of the Best 2” with Eric Roberts.

Television appearances include everything from “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “Family Matters” to “Quantum Leap” and “NYPD Blue”. Mike has had reoccurring or regular roles on “the Flash”, “Reasonable Doubts”, “Arliss”, “Family Matters”, “Viper”, and “ER” where he and his wife, Ellen Crawford, played characters who married on the show.

Mike is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association, the Screen Actors’ Guild, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

More than the awards and the good reviews, what pleases Mike the most is that he has been a successful working actor for over thirty years. Children, Sean, Erin, and Meghan, have happy and productive lives. Life with Ellen Crawford continues to be grand. Human behavior is still a joy to portray.