Life and family

Michael DeLorenzo was born and raised in the University Heights section of The Bronx, New York. His late father, Arthur DeLorenzo, was from Italy and his late mother, Carmen DeLorenzo, was originally from Puerto Rico. Michael is the second eldest of 4 children. He has 1 sister and 2 brothers.

Education and early career

Michael DeLorenzo is a veteran of stage and screen with more than 25 years in the entertainment spotlight. Born and raised in The Bronx, New York, he first began performing at the age of 7 as a dancer with Tina Ramirez's Ballet Hispanico. He went on to receive various scholarships from the School of American Ballet (SAB) and the Joffrey Ballet, with a final tenure at the New York School of Ballet. At the age of 10, he danced alongside Rudolph Nureyev at the Royal Canadian Ballet. At the age of 14, he performed with Mikhail Baryshnikov and the American Ballet Theatre. He went on to attend the Manhattan-based Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Shortly thereafter, while dancing, he was injured and tore the cartilage in his knee, thus effecting his immediate entry into the world of acting.

Television, movie, playwright, and dance projects: 1980-2008

One of his first gigs was in the Broadway revival of West Side Story, where he played a member of the Sharks. He also appeared in the 1980 film Fame alongside Irene Cara, Gene Anthony Ray and Debbie Allen.

Upon moving from New York to Los Angeles, DeLorenzo landed a recurring role in the television adaptation of Fame, and guest-starred on other series such as Miami Vice. He also appeared in movies such as Fast Forward (1985) directed by Sidney Poitier, and music videos for Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and "Thriller"; Lionel Richie's "Running with the Night" and "Ballerina Girl"; and Alexander O'Neal's "Fake". He was also one of the main dancers during Chaka Khan's performance of "I Feel for You" at the 1985 Grammy Awards.

DeLorenzo won a Drama-Logue Award for Best Actor in a play at the Mark Taper Forum entitled A Stand Up Tragedy (1987), where he performed different roles live and on stage. Based upon that performance, he was tapped by the producers of the ABC sitcom Head of the Class to star as high school student, Alex Torres, alongside Howard Hesseman during the last two years of the series (48 episodes, 1989-1991). Michael also appeared in Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men (1992) as Pfc. William T. Santiago alongside Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore, and as Rafael Cano in Alive (1993) with Ethan Hawke. While filming Alive, he endured months of starvation and freezing cold atop a remote mountain in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. His most notable role came with the Fox television Thursday night series New York Undercover, starring as NYPD Detective Eddie Torres opposite fellow actor Malik Yoba. DeLorenzo and Yoba (who is Black-American) made television history, as the series was the first police drama on American television to feature two people of color in the starring roles.

DeLorenzo went on to star in the Showtime drama series Resurrection Blvd. as Carlos Santiago, the embittered boxing champion. He was also the director of 2 episodes, "Bruja" (2001) and "El Gato, El Vato, La Cena Y El Padre" (2002).

In 2004, Michael joined forces again with Malik Yoba and The Malik Yoba National Theatre Company (MYNT) to co-star in and direct the live stage musical play entitled Acoustic Chocolate. Written by Malik Yoba and Raquis Petrie, the main synopsis was based on a true story concerning 6 young musicians who dealt with issues of mental health, depression, suicide and diabetes while struggling to make the dream of pop stardom come true. The week-long show took place at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland from March 30 - April 4, 2004.

After this period, He guest-starred in additional notable TV shows: as Rico Cerda in CSI: NY season 2 episode 16, Cool Hunter" (2006), as Nacio Duque in Numb3rs (2007), as Richard Sanchez in Ghost Whisperer (2007), and as Carlos Santiago in CSI: Miami season six, episode 18, "Tunnel Vision" (2008).

Recent projects (actor, director): 2008-present

DeLorenzo extended his talents by venturing into the realm of directing. The episodes he helmed from before were among the highest rated. His feature directing debut for a motion picture was with National Lampoon's One, Two, Many (2008).

Other previous accomplishments and work include two independent feature films, Not Forgotten (2009) with Simon Baker (star of the TV series The Mentalist) and Paz Vega, and La Linea (2009) with Ray Liotta and Andy García.

In mid-May 2010, DeLorenzo was in Peru filming for a new movie - a drama entitled 186 Dollars To Freedom a.k.a. "The City of Gardens" (2012). He portrays the power hungry, authoritative Lt. Gutierrez. The motion picture is currently in the works, wrapping up recent filming in Lima, Peru and continuing its production in Los Angeles, California. It is expected to be debuted and released later this year.

In 2013, DeLorenzo appeared as Keith Caverns in the award-winning independent thriller The Employer. On May 25, 2013, he won the award for Best Supporting Actor at the Los Angeles Movie Awards for his role in The Employer.

Music (vocals, songwriting, composing, instrumentalist)

DeLorenzo plays guitar, drums and piano. He also has a talent for singing. He first revealed his singing ability by partnering with an R&B girl group called Teen Dream, under the moniker "Valentino" and released the single, "Get Busy" (1987). He appears in the music video as a paper doll cut-out, but did not actually sing on the record. In the mid- to late 1990s during his tenure on New York Undercover, some of his songs appeared on the popular show's soundtracks - one of them entitled, "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight". His songs also have appeared on Showtime's Resurrection Blvd. His most recent debut music CD entitled Rescue Me was released in 2009 and is a mix of pop/Latin/R&B.

Personal life

He is currently single and resides in Los Angeles and New York City.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]