Michael Chiklis (‘Dale’ in 1985) is an American actor and television producer. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of corrupt LAPD detective Vic Mackey on the FX police drama The Shield, which aired from 2002-08, and for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Chiklis began performing professionally at the age of 13. A graduate of the Boston University School of Performing Arts, he spent his early career in New York performing in off-Broadway plays.

His first big break came when he was chosen to play John Belushi in the 1989 film Wired. From 1991-96, he played Commissioner Tony Scali on the ABC police drama The Commish. After six successful seasons on that show, he starred in the ABC science-fiction comedy-drama No Ordinary Family. He then starred opposite Dennis Quaid in the CBS crime drama Vegas. In 2014, Chiklis joined the cast of American Horror Story for its fourth season, Freak Show. The following year, he was cast as Nathaniel Barnes in the second season of Gotham as a series regular. His other credits include the one-man Broadway show Defending the Caveman and as comic book hero The Thing/Ben Grimm in Fantastic Four and its sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer. In the animated version of Spirited Away released for English- language audiences, Chiklis was the voice of Chihiro’s father.