Mike Genovese

Born and raised in St. Louis, MO, Mike Genovese taught acting at Webster College from 1969 to 1973. There, he also began his professional acting career with the Lorreto Hilton Repertory Theatre, now the St. Louis Repertory Theatre. While performing in Washington, D.C., he met his future and present wife, TV/film actress Ellen Crawford. His career continued after he moved to Chicago and later Los Angeles. A veteran character actor, Genovese has appeared in many films such as two Richard Pryor billed vehicles: "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling" (1986) and "Harlem Knights", which also co-starred Eddie Murphy, Redd Foxx and Della Reese, and guest roles on TV series such as "The Dukes of Hazzard", "Star Trek:The Next Generation", "Family Matters", "NYPD Blue", "Quantum Leap", "Arli$$", "ER", Chicago Hope" and "JAG", just to mention a few. For "ER", the long-running medical drama which airs on NBC, Genovese appeared in a recurring role as Officer Al Grabarsky, where he appeared opposite his real life wife, actress Ellen Crawford, who was as cast regular as Nurse Lydia Wright, his character's girlfriend. He appeared in twelve episodes of the series from 1994 through 2000. In 1979, Mike had a notable performance as Philip Marlowe at Chicago's Organic Theater in Stuart Gordon directed adaptation of Raymond Chandler's "The Little Sister." In 2005, he appeared as Rev. Tollhouse in "The Book of Liz" play by Amy Sedaris and David Sedaris at the 2nd Stage Theatre, Hollywood.