Michael Hawkins (American actor)

Michael Hawkins (also known as Michael D. Gainsborough; born Thomas Knight Slater on December 26, 1938) is an American actor.[3] He is the father of actor Christian Slater.

Michael Hawkins
Born
Thomas Knight Slater[1]

(1938-12-26) December 26, 1938[2]
Queens, New York, U.S.
Other namesMichael Gainsborough
OccupationActor
Years active1968–1988
RelativesChristian Slater (actor, son)

Life and career

Hawkins was born Thomas Knight Slater in Queens, New York, the son of Helen Margaret (Knight) and Thomas G. Slater.[4] He would later also use the stage name Michael Gainsborough. His uncle was radio personality Bill Slater.[5]

He spent the early part of his childhood in Forest Hills section of Queens, as well as in Texas and Tennessee. Later in the 1940s, he lived in the Strathmore section of Manhasset, Long Island. He was athletic and was one of the faster boys at his grade school, Munsey Park School, and started his acting and singing career in a fourth-grade production of the Gilbert Sullivan operetta, HMS Pinafore, as Captain Corcoran. His family left Manhasset in 1950. It is not clear where he was raised after that point.[6]

After a small role on the CBS soap opera Search for Tomorrow, he played Dr. Paul Stewart No. 4 on another CBS soap opera, As the World Turns. He later replaced David Birney as Mark Elliott on yet another CBS show, Love is a Many Splendored Thing.

He later created the role of Frank Ryan on the ABC soap opera Ryan's Hope but was fired from the role at the end of the show's first year reportedly due to his alcoholism. He was asked back, but replaced with actor Andrew Robinson later that year. At the time she was cast in Ryan's Hope, Helen Gallagher, who played matriarch Maeve Ryan, taught singing in her home three times a week. Hawkins was one of her students.[7]

Hawkins was married to casting director Mary Jo Slater until their divorce in 1976; their only child is actor Christian Slater.[8]

Filmography
Film
Year Title Role Notes
1975Trucker's WomanMike Kelly
1979The Amityville HorrorNew York State Trooper
1980The Black MarbleCaptain Jack Packerton
1981Mommie DearestPepsi Executive #2
1981LookerSenator Robert Harrison
1988Midnight RunFBI Surveillance Agent #1(final film role)
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1951Search for TomorrowSteve Haskins
1956As the World TurnsDr. Paul Stewart No. 4 (1968)
1967Love is a Many Splendored ThingMark Elliott #3 (1970-1971)
1975-1976Ryan's HopeFrank Ryan No. 1212 episodes

References
  1. Dillon, Nancy (February 24, 2016). "Christian Slater sued for allegedly ruining his dad's acting career". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  2. "Thomas Knight Slater birth reference". FamilySearch.org. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  3. Michael Hawkins page at IMDb; accessed August 18, 2014.
  4. http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/19990910/Obits/309109981
  6. "For Michael Hawkins, Suddenly – Happy Days". Soap Opera People Magazine. September 1976.
  7. Wilson, Earl (July 16, 1975). "Helen Gallagher Slips into Soaps". The Milwaukee Sentinel.
  8. Andriakos, Jacqueline (June 11, 2015). "Christian Slater Opens Up About Reconnecting with His 'Manic-Depressive' Father: 'We Were Able to Begin to Build a Better Bridge for the Both of Us'". People. Retrieved June 11, 2015.


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