Michael Emerson is an American actor who is best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on Lost (2006–2010) and as Harold Finch in the CBS series Person of Interest (2011–2016). Other prominent roles include Zep Hindle in the horror film Saw (2004) and as Dr. Leland Townsend in the Paramount+ thriller series Evil (2019–2024).
Emerson was born in Cedar Rapids,[1]Iowa, to Carol (née Hansen) and Ronald H. Emerson.[2] He grew up in Toledo, Iowa, where he was a member of his high school marching band.[1]
In 1986, he moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where until 1993 he appeared in local productions at Theater Jacksonville and The Players by the Sea and worked as a director and teacher[4] at Flagler College.[6]
Michael Emerson filming Person of Interest in New York City
In September 2001, Emerson won an Emmy Award as Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for playing serial killer William Hinks in several episodes of The Practice. In 2006, Emerson began a guest-star role as Benjamin Linus on the serial drama television series Lost.[9] Emerson was originally set to appear in a small number of episodes, then returned for Season 3 as a main cast member and eventually became a main antagonist of the program. He received an Emmy Award nomination in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category in 2007 and 2008 for his work in the third and fourth seasons. He won the award in 2009 after being nominated for his role in the fifth season.[10]
Emerson was nominated in 2009 for a Golden Globe Award in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role category. He was nominated for an Emmy for each season in which he was listed in the main cast.[11]
Emerson was set to reunite with former Lost cast member and friend Terry O'Quinn in a comedy-drama, tentatively titled Odd Jobs, by J. J. Abrams. It was expected to start filming by the end of 2010, but further development has been postponed. Emerson joined the cast of another Abrams series, Person of Interest, that debuted in September 2011 on CBS. He played a billionaire who teams up with a supposedly dead CIA agent to fight crime in New York City.[13]
Personal life
Emerson married actress Carrie Preston in 1998 in her hometown of Macon, Georgia.[14] They met while he was performing in a stage production of Hamlet in Alabama.[1][5] It is his second marriage.[1] The two later starred together in Straight-Jacket (2004). Preston portrayed Emily Linus (the mother of Emerson's character) on Lost in the flashback sequences of the episode "The Man Behind the Curtain".[9] The two teamed up again, with Emerson portraying Preston's next-door neighbor, in the film Ready? OK! (2008).[15] Preston also appeared in several episodes of Person of Interest as Grace Hendricks, the former fiancée of Emerson's character. In 2024, Emerson appeared alongside Preston in Elsbeth where Preston stars in the title role.
In 2003, was the voice of George Washington in Favorite Son, an experimental documentary film about the relationship between George Washington and Alexander Hamilton.
In 2007, with other Lost cast members, he participated in a play-reading session at the Tenney Theatre in Hawaii to raise money for the Honolulu Theatre for Youth.
In 2009, narrated a reading of "Babar the Elephant" with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra.
Co-narrated with Peter J. Fernandez, the audio book version of James Patterson's novel, Four Blind Mice.
^ abc"Michael Emerson (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 24, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
