After graduating from Drake University with a major in Theater and a minor in Art, Michael Emerson moved to New York, forgot about acting and landed a job in magazine illustration. He later followed a romance to Florida, where he began acting again and supported himself with a variety of occupations, including directing and teaching. He acted professionally in the south for many years before entering the MFA Program at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (University of Alabama). After graduating, he once again moved to New York as a struggling actor and found a break in Moises Kaufman`s Off-Broadway production of Gross Indecency.
On Broadway, Emerson appeared in Hedda Gabler and The Iceman Cometh. His television credits include guest starring roles on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Without a Trace, The X-Files and The Inside, among many others. For his performance as William Hinks on The Practice, he was awarded the 2001 Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Dramatic Series. In 2007 he was nominated for an Emmy for his role on Lost.
