Gordon Michaels

Gordon Michaels' first career was as a research scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee where he was Chief Technology Officer and managed hundreds of other research staff. He served on six official State Department Delegations to Russia; he managed teams that produced equipment for the NASA spacecraft that explored the moons of Saturn and he helped develop the U.S. energy research and development priorities for dealing with climate change. He retired in 2012 and his second career has been acting, principally on theatrical stages in the Knoxville Tennessee area. He has made a seamless transition to acting in films with his first role as the villainous character Hecklar in the feature-length film Jesse's Gift (2022). Gordon Michaels was born in Queens, NY on August 19, 1954 to Myron and Carol Michaels. He is a mix of English, Scottish, Italian and Russian Jew. He attended Rensselear Polytechnic Institute where he was student body president and obtained a B.S in Physics and an M.S. in Nuclear Engineering. He later attended the University of Tennessee part-time where he did coursework towards his PhD in Physics, but never completed it due to his work obligations. He hired into the Oak Ridge plants where he worked for 32 years and was a prominent scientific leader in the U.S. and worldwide. He has been married to Patricia Lotts since 1988. They have two (grown) children. His theatrical career started in the NY schools he attended as a youth. Later in life, as a volunteer he directed two musicals in the public schools of Farragut, TN. As he approached early retirement, he became active in community and professional theater. His acting skills and unusually flexible face propelled him into both comedic and villain roles and his versatility, reliability and professionalism has made him a go-to for a number of theater directors when they unexpectedly have a role become vacant mid-way through rehearsals. True to this pattern, Ken Merritt, Director of the film Jesse's Gift, contacted Gordon Michaels two days before filming was to start and invited him to send an audition tape for a role that was unexpectedly vacant. The tape was sent and struck bingo.