Michael Vartan Biography

Michael Vartan is a French born actor who has made a name for himself starring in the television show, Alias.Vartan was born on November 27, 1968 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France, to his parents Eddie and Doris. His father is a Bulgarian musician while his mother is a Jewish-American born in Poland. After their divorce, when Michael was five, his mother moved to Los Angeles while his father remained in France. Vartan shuffled between the two countries throughout his childhood, at times living with his mother and other times with his father.Acting professionally never crossed Vartan's mind when he was growing up. He enjoyed playing sports especially hockey, which he continues to play as often as he can even on the set of a movie. For some time he wanted to be a professional pool player. His training consisted of playing pool 12 hours a day for five years straight.Vartan stayed with his father until he was seventeen. He then decided to move in with his mother to avoid mandatory military service in France. He decided to attend acting school after he was told that he had acting talent.He made his acting debut in Un homme et deux femmes (1991) which was a French film. A second film, Promenades d ete soon followed in 1992. His first major American film was The Pallbearer in 1996 which co-starred David Schwimmer and Gwyneth Paltrow.He began earning minor roles in many different films throughout the early 1990 s. He then began receiving more notable supporting roles in films like Never Been Kissed (1999) opposite Drew Barrymore, One Hour Photo (2002) opposite Robin Williams, and Monster-in-Law (2005) opposite Jennifer Lopez. Although he was still fairly unknown in the business, Drew Barrymore pushed the studio to cast him in Never Been Kissed.In 2001 Vartan's career received a considerable boost when he landed a starring role as Michael Vaughn on the hit television show, Alias alongside Jennifer Garner, whom he also dated in 2003. Although his character on the show was killed off in 2005, he made several guest appearances on the 2006 season when the plot revealed that his supposed death had only been a ruse. Prior to his run on Alias Vartan made guest appearances on several TV shows including Friends, Ally McBeal, and Kitchen Confidential.