| Birth Date: | 13 February 1944 |
| Birth Place: | Safford, Arizona, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Yearsactive: | 1972–present |
Michael Ensign (born February 13, 1944[1]) is an American actor who mostly played small roles. One of his most-known roles was Benjamin Guggenheim in the 1997 film Titanic.
A native of Safford, Arizona, Ensign was raised in both the United States and England. Born into a family in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he later became a member of the Episcopal Church, attending a parish which is in the Anglo-Catholic tradition.
He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and spent the first ten years of his professional career working in the theatre in Britain.[2]
He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1970s, appearing in productions of As You Like It, Love's Labour's Lost, and Cymbeline amongst others.[3] He has appeared in Irene, Curse of the Starving Class, and The Red Devil Battery Sign in the West End.
Ensign's film credits include Superman (1978), Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982), WarGames (1983), Ghostbusters (1984), Dr. Hackenstein (1988),[4] Titanic (1997), Solaris (2002), Bringing Down the House (2003), Down with Love (2003) and Seabiscuit (2003).[5]
Ensign's many television appearances include Boston Legal, Three’s Company, Alias, Monk, JAG, , , The X-Files, Friends, , , , MacGyver, Dynasty, Falcon Crest, M*A*S*H, The A-Team, and The Dukes Of Hazzard. He appeared in the TV miniseries The Winds of War and Dream West.
Ensign provided the voice of the villainous Doctor Nefarious Tropy in the video games , Crash Team Racing, Crash Nitro Kart and Crash Twinsanity.[6] [7] [8] [9] His role of N. Tropy was later passed down to Corey Burton, who voiced the character in , , and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, and then passed to JP Karliak, who currently voices the latter in . He gave his voice for Dr. Sebastian Wolfe in 2011 video game inFamous 2.
In 2009 Ensign was given the Distinguished Alumnus Award for Theatre from the College of Fine Arts at University of Utah in Salt Lake City.[10]
Writing in Forbes in 2011, David M. Ewalt noted,
"Ensign is a classic example of "Hey! It's that guy!" --a versatile character actor with a long and illustrious career, but who you probably can't identify by name, or even where you've seen him"before going on to list some of Ensign's key film appearances.[2]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Of Heaven and Home | Homeroom Teacher | Short film | |
| 1973 | Assassin | Unknown | ||
| 1978 | Midnight Express | Stanley Daniels | ||
| 1978 | Superman | Newscaster, Superman's 1st Night | ||
| 1980 | Raise the Titanic | Lieutenant Northacker | ||
| 1981 | Buddy Buddy | Assistant manager | ||
| 1982 | Vice Squad | Chauffeur | ||
| 1982 | Pink Floyd – The Wall | Hotel Manager | ||
| 1982 | Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again | Announcer | ||
| 1982 | Six Weeks | Choreographer | ||
| 1982 | Kiss Me Goodbye | Billy | ||
| 1983 | WarGames | Beringer's Aide | ||
| 1983 | The Star Chamber | Judge Kirkland | ||
| 1983 | The Man Who Wasn't There | Assistant Secretary | ||
| 1983 | Mr. Mom | Executive #2 | ||
| 1984 | Ghostbusters | Hotel Manager | ||
| 1984 | All of Me | Mr. Mifflin | ||
| 1984 | The Ratings Game | Le Boeuf Maitre d' | ||
| 1985 | Maxie | Cleopatra Director | ||
| 1986 | House | Chet Parker | ||
| 1988 | The Couch Trip | Hendricks | ||
| 1988 | Inherit the Wind | Reverend Brown | ||
| 1988 | License To Drive | School Teacher / Bus Driver | ||
| 1988 | Dr. Hackenstein | Dean Slesinger | ||
| 1989 | Frederick Forsyth Presents: Just Another Secret | Chuck Lucas | ||
| 1991 | Life Stinks | Knowles | ||
| 1993 | Born Yesterday | Phillipe | ||
| 1995 | Father Frank Nolan | |||
| 1995 | Rough Magic | Powerbroker | ||
| 1995 | Fatal Pursuit | Pinkrose | ||
| 1997 | Titanic | Benjamin Guggenheim | ||
| 1998 | Secrets of a Chambermaid | Hollingswood | ||
| 2001 | Not Another Teen Movie | Father O'Flannagan | ||
| 2002 | Confessions of a Dangerous Mind | Simon Oliver | ||
| 2002 | Solaris | Friend #1 | ||
| 2003 | Bringing Down the House | Daniel Barnes | ||
| 2003 | Down with Love | J.R. | ||
| 2003 | Seabiscuit | Steamer Owner | ||
| 2004 | The Drone Virus | Dr. Jamison | ||
| 2006 | 29 Reasons to Run | Callahan | Gold Bone Award for Best Ensemble Cast (2006) | |
| 2008 | Prairie Fever | Preacher | Direct-to-video | |
| 2010 | Love Shack | Tush Bushman | Direct-to-video | |
| 2012 | The Five-Year Engagement | Grandpa Harold |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Colditz | Lieutenant Dave Olding | Episode: "The Undefeated" | |
| 1978 | A Life at Stake | Glynn Lunney | Episode: "Houston... We've Got a Problem" | |
| 1980 | Tenspeed and Brown Shoe | Maitre D' | Episode: "The Sixteen Byte Data Chip and the Brown-eyed Fox" | |
| 1981 | Enos | Trapnell | Episode: "Forever Blowing Bubbles" | |
| 1981 | The Greatest American Hero | Principal David Kane | Episode: "The Best Desk Scenario" | |
| 1981 | M*A*S*H | Major Cass | Episode: "'Twas the Day After Christmas" | |
| 1981 | The Gangster Chronicles | Owney "The Killer" Madden | 13 episodes Television miniseries | |
| 1982 | Benson | Wally | Episode: "Pete the Hero" | |
| 1982 | Eleanor, First Lady of the World | Ship Steward | Television film | |
| 1982 | Games Mother Never Taught You | Jennings Lachman | Television film | |
| 1983 | Tales of the Golden Monkey | Halliburton | Episode: "Ape Boy" | |
| 1983 | The Winds of War | Lieutenant Sissons | Television miniseries Episode: "The Changing of the Guard" | |
| 1983 | Hart to Hart | George Wiesenkopf | Episode: "The Wayward Hart" | |
| 1983 | Las aventuras de Frank Buck | Inspector Newton | 3 episodes | |
| 1983 | Voyagers! | Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle | Episode: "Jack's Back" | |
| 1983 | Sunset Limousine | Gavrik | Television film | |
| 1984 | The Dukes of Hazzard | Bender | Episodes: "Undercover Dukes: Parts 1 & 2" | |
| 1984 | Three's Company | Doctor | Episode: "Forget Me Not" | |
| 1984 | The A-Team | Cartel Leader | Episode: "Deadly Maneuvers" | |
| 1984 | St. Elsewhere | Proctor | Episode: "Cramming" | |
| 1984 | Velvet | Stefan | Television film | |
| 1984 | Hotel | Harold | Episode: "Flesh and Blood" | |
| 1984 | Shattered Vows | Father Meyer | Television film | |
| 1984 | Too Close for Comfort | Government Agent | Episode: "The Missing Fink" | |
| 1984 | Hill Street Blues | IRS Investigator | Episode: "Blues for Mr. Green" | |
| 1984 | Hardcastle and McCormick | Waiter | Episode: "You and the Horse You Rode On" | |
| 1984 | Cover Up | Donald Rutledge | Episode: "Writer's Block" | |
| 1984 | A Touch of Scandal | Manderly | Television film | |
| 1985 | Otherworld | Baxter Dromo | Episode: "Rock and Roll Suicide" | |
| 1985 | ABC Afterschool Specials | Mr. Grey | Episode: "One Too Many" | |
| 1985 | Me and Mom | Arthur Dodds | Episode: "The Murder Game" | |
| 1985 | George Burns Comedy Week | Unknown | 2 episodes | |
| 1985 | Cagney & Lacey | Mort Jeffries | Episode: "Filial Duty" | |
| 1986 | Dream West | Karl Preuss | 2 episodes Television miniseries | |
| 1986 | Sylvan in Paradise | The Vice Counsel | Television film | |
| 1986 | Downtown | Kling | Episode: "The Spring Line" | |
| 1986–1987 | Falcon Crest | Frank McIntyre | 4 episodes | |
| 1986 | Sledge Hammer! | Crandell | Episode: "Dori Day Afternoon" | |
| 1987 | 21 Jump Street | Mr. Mickey Hoskett | Episode: "Next Generation" Credited as Michael Ensign Evans | |
| 1987 | Sledge Hammer! | Claude Goldfunger | Episode: "Sledge in Toyland" | |
| 1987 | Beauty and the Beast | Edward Hughes | Episode: "Nor Iron Bars a Cage" | |
| 1987 | MacGyver | Derek Thompson | Episode: "Soft Touch" | |
| 1988 | Wiseguy | Pierre Coscare | Episode: "The Merchant of Death" | |
| 1988 | Dynasty | William Todd | Episodes: "The Trial" and "The Proposal" | |
| 1988 | It's Garry Shandling's Show | Store Manager | Episode: "Pete's Got a Secret" | |
| 1988 | Mr. Belvedere | Professor Rosenthal | Episode: "The Curse" | |
| 1989 | Single Women Married Men | John Briggs | Television film | |
| 1989–1991 | Guns of Paradise | Mr. Axlerod | 15 episodes | |
| 1989 | Matlock | Spaulding Kane | Episode: "The Psychic" | |
| 1989 | MacGyver | Professor Wycliff | Episodes: "Legend of the Holy Rose: Parts 1 & 2" | |
| 1990 | Mancuso, FBI | Unknown | Episode: "Conspiracy" | |
| 1990 | Rock Hudson | Mark Miller | Television film | |
| 1990 | The Golden Girls | Donald | Episode: "All Bets Are Off" | |
| 1991 | Minister Krola | Episode: "First Contact" | ||
| 1991 | Matlock | Doctor | Episodes: "The Witness Killings: Parts 1 & 2" | |
| 1991 | A Different World | Auctioneer | Episode: "How Great Thou Art" | |
| 1991 | The Wonder Years | Mr. Finora | Episode: "Triangle" | |
| 1991 | L.A. Law | Dr. George Leeson | Episode: "Lose the Boss" | |
| 1991 | Secret Bodyguard | Niles | Television film | |
| 1992 | Jake and the Fatman | Mikael Rikas | Episode: "Ain't Misbehavin'" | |
| 1992 | Coach | Father Engler | Episode: "Vows" | |
| 1992 | Raven | Dr. Spencer | Episode: "Disciples of Dawn" | |
| 1993 | Lojal | Episode: "The Forsaken" | ||
| 1993 | Sisters | Howard Greenway, The Travel Agent | Episode: "The Land of the Lost Children" | |
| 1993 | Trouble Shooters: Trapped Beneath the Earth | Ronald Marsh | Television film | |
| 1993 | Dangerous Heart | Father Korcheck | Television film | |
| 1994 | Melrose Place | Sheriff | Episode: "Love, Mancini Style" | |
| 1994 | General Hospital | Dr. Gary | 3 episodes | |
| 1994 | A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle | Unknown | Television film | |
| 1995 | Vanishing Son | Rory Rasmussen | Episode: "Runaway Hearts" | |
| 1995 | The Monroes | Simon | Episode: "Pilot Episode" | |
| 1995 | Pointman | Stewart Sumner | Episode: "Business and Pleasure" | |
| 1995 | Murphy Brown | Jack Stanfield | Episode: "The Ten Percent Solution | |
| 1995 | The Christmas Box | Steven Hooper | Television film | |
| 1995 | Maybe This Time | John Biddle | Episode: "Judgement Day" | |
| 1996 | The Wayans Bros. | Lloyd | Episode: "It Takes a Thief" | |
| 1996 | Bard | Episode: "False Profits" | ||
| 1996 | Murder One | Mr. Bluth | Episode: "Chapter One, Year Two" | |
| 1997 | Profiler | Brooks Winchell | Episode: "Doppelganger" | |
| 1997 | The Nanny | Trevor | Episode: "The Ex-Niles" | |
| 1997 | Malcolm and Eddie | Miles | Episode: "Whole Lotta Love Seat" | |
| 1997 | A Thousand Men and a Baby | Bert Schumann | Television film | |
| 1997 | Caroline in the City | Mr. Fogel | Episode: "Caroline and the Kink" | |
| 1998 | Donald T. Blanchard | Episode: "Ghost Visitor" | ||
| 1998–1999 | Friends | Dr. Ledbetter | Episodes: "The One with Ross' Sandwich" and "The One Where Everybody Finds Out" | |
| 1998 | Chicago Hope | Dr. Andrew Shaddock | Episode: "Bridge over Troubled Waters" | |
| 1998 | The Tom Show | Floyd | Episode: "The Top Five" | |
| 1998 | Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place | Chairman At Presentation | Episode: "Two Guys, a Girl, and a Presentation" | |
| 1999 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Fordham | Episode: "Superstitious Dick" | |
| 1999 | Any Day Now | Unknown | Episode: "Blue" | |
| 1999 | Brimstone | Dr. Morris | Uncredited Episode: "Faces" | |
| 1999 | The X-Files | Dr. Barnes | Episodes: "Biogenesis" and "The Sixth Extinction" | |
| 2000 | The Others | Professor Dan Teplin | Episode: "Life Is for the Living" | |
| 2000 | Batman Beyond | Butler | Voice, episode: "The Eggbaby" | |
| 2001 | Diagnosis Murder | Chick | Episode: "Bachelor Fathers" | |
| 2002 | Just Shoot Me! | Bob Fennel | Episode: "The Book of Jack" | |
| 2002 | Judge Peter Croft | Episode: "The Accused Is Entitled" | ||
| 2002 | Son of the Beach | "F" | Episode: "You Only Come Once" | |
| 2002 | Judging Amy | Dr. Riley | Episode: "Roses and Truth" | |
| 2003 | Judge Brenner | Episode: "Invisible Evidence" | ||
| 2003 | JAG | General Tillman | Episode: "Posse Comitatus" | |
| 2003 | Dr. Oratt | Episode: "Stigma" | ||
| 2004 | Monk | Raymond Toliver | Episode: "Mr. Monk Gets Married" | |
| 2004–2008 | Boston Legal | Judge Paul Resnick | 10 episodes | |
| 2005 | Alias | Vogel | Episode: "Pandora" | |
| 2007 | Not Another High School Show | Jeeves | Television film | |
| 2007 | Mystery Woman: In the Shadows | Yuri Slipchenko | Television film | |
| 2008 | Judge | Episode: "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda" | ||
| 2008 | Ladies of the House | Pastor Wesley | Television film | |
| 2008 | Cold Case | Bruce Davies '08 | Episode: "Slipping" | |
| 2009 | Big Love | Ritual Superior | Voice, episode: "Outer Darkness" | |
| 2011 | Hannah Montana | Mr. Elderman | Episode: "I Am Mamaw, Hear Me Roar!" | |
| 2012 | Cupid, Inc. | Louis, The Maitre D' | Television film | |
| 2014 | NCIS | Dr. Ishmael Havana | Episode: "Choke Hold" | |
| 2014 | Love by the Book | Philip | Television film | |
| 2015–2017 | Kirby Buckets | Superintendent | Episodes: "Kirby Sells Out" and "Closing Time" | |
| 2016 | The Detour | Peter Donaire | Episode: "The Tank" | |
| 2018 | Living Biblically | Karl | Episode: "Love Thy Neighbor" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Doctor Nefarious Tropy | |||
| 1998 | Titanic Explorer | Philip Franklin | ||
| 1999 | Crash Team Racing | Doctor Nefarious Tropy | ||
| 2002 | Raphael Drake | |||
| 2003 | The Hobbit | Additional Voices | ||
| 2003 | Crash Nitro Kart | Doctor Nefarious Tropy | ||
| 2004 | Crash Twinsanity | Doctor Nefarious Tropy / Tribesmen | ||
| 2007 | The Golden Compass | Master / Head Inspector | ||
| 2008 | White Knight Chronicles | Dalam | English version[11] | |
| 2010 | BioShock 2 | Additional Voices | ||
| 2011 | L.A. Noire | Raymond Gordon / Otis Chandler | ||
| 2011 | Infamous 2 | Dr. Sevastian Wolfe | ||
| 2015 | Lego Dimensions | Hotel Manager | Archival footage; uncredited |