Michael Biehn

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Michael Connell Biehn (born July 31, 1956) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in James Cameron's science fiction action films The Terminator, Aliens, and The Abyss. He has also acted in other genres in such films as Tombstone, The Rock, and Planet Terror. On television, Biehn appeared in the cast of the Emmy Award-winning 1980s television series Hill Street Blues.

Personal life

Biehn was born in Anniston, Alabama, the son of Marcia and Don Biehn, a lawyer, and grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska.He has three siblings: Brooks Ann, Jonathon and Steven. Biehn attended high school in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and was a member of the high school drama club. He then attended the drama program at the University of Arizona (where he joined Sigma Nu Fraternity) for two years before heading to Hollywood.

Biehn has been married twice, first to Carlene Olsen (1980–1987), and then to Gina Marsh (currently separated). He has four sons, including twin boys.

Career

Perhaps Biehn's most memorable role was that of Kyle Reese, a lonely sergeant sent back in time by John Connor to save Sarah Connor in the 1984 movie The Terminator. He has appeared in three other films directed by James Cameron: Aliens (playing a major secondary role as Corporal Hicks), The Abyss (playing a major role as Lieutenant Hiram Coffey) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (his briefly reprised role as Reese which was removed from the theatrical release but restored in the special editions and the director's cut). For his role as Lt. Coffey in The Abyss, the studio lobbied hard to get Biehn nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, but to no avail.

A picture of Biehn as Kyle Reese in The Terminator was reproduced as the cover-art of the 1987 video game Metal Gear, which was meant to portray the game's protagonist, Solid Snake.

In an early draft of Alien 3 written by William Gibson, Biehn's character Hicks (who had survived the events of Aliens) was to become the main protagonist, replacing Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver).[5] However, Walter Hill and David Giler penned the final script, which had Hicks killed off in the opening scene. Biehn, upon learning of his character's demise, demanded and received almost as much money for the use of his likeness in one scene as he had been paid for his role in Aliens.

In the 2000s, Biehn has taken acting roles ranging from big budget movies such as The Art of War and Clockstoppers, to video games like Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, and independent movies, such as Havoc. He also starred in three TV series including the CBS drama The Magnificent Seven (1998–2000), the Tribune Entertainment syndicated TV series Adventure Inc.. (2002–2003), and the NBC TV series Hawaii (2004). All three shows were subsequently cancelled due to low ratings. Biehn was considered for a role in James Cameron's new sci-fi epic movie Avatar (2009), but Cameron felt his appearance in the film coupled with that of Sigourney Weaver's would remind people too much of Aliens and not of Avatar as an original film of its own.

In every James Cameron movie Michael appears in, his character is bitten on the hand by another character. This does not include Terminator 2: Judgment Day (however, Biehn is only in one scene in this film, and the scene is not part of the theatrical version; it is only available in the extended edition of the film). Also, Michael Biehn has died or been seriously injured in every James Cameron film he's appeared in, as well as most of his other roles. His character has been killed off in The Abyss, Tombstone, Terminator, The Rock and Grindhouse. Hicks survives the events of Aliens however, only to be killed off immediately at the start of the third movie. Biehn stars in the thriller Bereavement, Psych 9 and is set for the lead role in the French Horror film The Divide.

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