Michael Moore

Michael Moore (born 23.4.1954)

Michel Moore is an American film and documentary maker, as well as an author and political commentator.

Michael Moore: Childhood

Michael Moore was born in Flint, Michigan, then raised in Davison, a suburb of Flint. His mother, Veronica, was a secretary and his father, Frank, was an assembly-line worker in a vehicle factory. Michael was raised as an Irish Catholic and attended St. John's Elementary School, followed by Davison High School. Whilst at school, he was actively involved in drama, as well as the debating society.

Michael Moore: His Career

Michael Moore briefly attended the University of Michigan-Flint. After dropping out, he founded an alternative weekly magazine entitled The Flint Voice. As the magazine began to cover a wider catchment area, its name changed to The Michigan Voice. In 1986, Moore became the editor of another liberal political magazine, Mother Jones, and so shut down The Michigan Voice. When he was fired from Mother Jones, he sued for wrongful dismissal. The resulting $58,000 compensation that he received enabled him to finance his first film, Roger & Me.

Roger & Me was released in 1989. It was a documentary that detailed the closing of General Motors' factories in Flint, in favour of opening cheaper factories in Mexico.

Michael Moore's next documentary was Pets of Meat: The Return to Flint. It aired on PBS in 1992. Three years later, he made Canadian Bacon, a satirical film featuring a fictional US president that fabricates a war between the US and Canada, in order to boost his own popularity. The film was one of the last films that John Candy appeared in before he died and also stars Rip Torn. It has been reported that some scenes of the film were influenced by Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.

Michael Moore directed The Big One in 1997, which documents the publicity tour for his book Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American. The book (and documentary) is critical of corporations laying off staff, despite huge profit-making.

Bowling for Columbine is perhaps one of Moore's best-known works. The 2002 documentary investigates gun culture in the USA, using the Columbine High School massacre of 1999 as a start-point for the film. Bowling for Columbine went on to win the Anniversary Prize at that year's Cannes film festival, as well as an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Farenheit 9/11, Moore's next major documentary feature, went on to surpass the popularity of Bowling For Columbine. It was awarded the Palme d'Or prize at Cannes, but was not nominated for an Oscar. It has become the highest grossing documentary of all time, having taken around $200 million at box offices around the world.

Michael Moore's next subject matter would be the American health care system, in his documentary Sicko. Four major pharmaceutical companies in the US ordered their employees not to grant any interviews to Moore. Sicko received a nomination for a Best Documentary Feature Academy Award.

In September 2009, Michael Moore released a documentary entitled Capitalism: A Love Story. The film looks at the financial crisis that began in 2007 and scrutinizes the US economy during the transition between George W. Bush and Barack Obama's administrations.

Michael Moore has also undertaken a number of small acting roles, including playing the cousin of Lisa Kudrow's character in Lucky Numbers. The film also starred John Travolta and Tim Roth. Moore also had a cameo in his own film Canadian Bacon and in The Fever, which starred Vanessa Redgrave.

Michael Moore directed and hosted the BBC series TV Nation between 1994-5. Between 1999-2000, Channel 4 screened The Awful Truth, which took a satirical look at politicians and large corporations. Channel 4 also broadcast Michael Moore Live, which was broadcast from New York, but only shown in the UK.

Michael Moore has also turned his hand to directing music videos, including two for Rage Against the Machine, one for System of a Down and one for REM.

Moore has also authored three best-selling non-fiction books, Downsize This!, Stupid White Men and Dude, Where's My Country?

Michael Moore: Personal Life

Michael Moore married Kathleen Glynn in 1990. Moore has a step-daughter named Natalie.