# Michael Boatman

Michael Patrick Boatman (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his roles as New York City mayoral aide Carter Heywood in the ABC sitcom Spin City, as U.S. Army Specialist Samuel Beckett in the ABC drama series China Beach, as 101st Airborne soldier Motown in the Vietnam War movie Hamburger Hill, and as sports agent Stanley Babson in the HBO sitcom Arli$$. He also starred in The Good Fight, the Paramount+ spinoff of The Good Wife.

## Early life and education

Boatman was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the son of Gwendolyn Boatman Pugh, a job supervisor for the disabled, and Daniel Boatman, an army officer. He was raised in Chicago. Boatman is a graduate of Western Illinois University and received its "Alumni Achievement Award" in 1997.
Boatman studied acting at Western Illinois University, where he played a variety of roles including Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Purlie in Purlie Victorious. He was a member of the student sketch comedy troupe Shock Treatment, which performed at local bars and nightclubs. During his senior year, Boatman won the prestigious Irene Ryan theater award for best supporting actor during the finals competition at the Kennedy Center.

## Acting career

In 1986, Boatman moved to Chicago, where he studied acting with Jane Brody, a popular acting teacher and casting director. Later that same year, he auditioned for and won the role of "Motown" in the critically acclaimed Vietnam action drama, Hamburger Hill. That same year, he appeared in Running on Empty with River Phoenix, and The Trial of Bernard Goetz for the PBS American Playhouse series. In 1988, he auditioned for the pilot episode of the Vietnam era television drama, China Beach. He went on to play Samuel Beckett, the mortician in the China Beach mortuary, for the next three seasons. He later co-starred on The Jackie Thomas Show with Tom Arnold, and the short-lived WB series Muscle. In 1996, he landed a role on the ABC sitcom, Spin City, playing Carter Heywood, the irascible, openly gay minority affairs liaison. For his work on Spin City, he was nominated for five NAACP Image Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy. He also won the GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Association Against Defamation) award for Best Actor.
At the same time, he was on Spin City, Boatman played the role of Stanley Babson, the anal-retentive chief financial officer on the HBO original series Arliss and starred on both series simultaneously until they were canceled in 2002. For his work on Arliss Boatman was nominated for four Image Awards, also for Best Supporting Actor. He played the lead role in the critically acclaimed Charles Burnett drama, The Glass Shield. Later, he appeared in the feature films The Peacemaker, with George Clooney and Nicole Kidman, and Woman Thou Art Loosed, and in several made-for-TV movies. Michael Boatman also narrated in the WPA slave narratives in the HBO film Unchained Memories, in 2003.
In 2007, Boatman co-starred in the feature films, The Killing of Wendy (2008), American Summer and My Father's Will. He has had many notable guest appearances, including five episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Less Than Perfect, Yes, Dear, Scrubs, CSI: Miami, Hannah Montana and Grey's Anatomy. Boatman guest starred in the mystery/drama Warehouse 13, in July 2009.
In 2009, he joined the cast of the Lifetime comedy series Sherri, starring Sherri Shepherd. The series is based on Shepherd's life experiences as a divorced single mom, actress and stand-up comedian. Boatman plays Doctor Randy Gregg, Sherri's son's pediatrician and Sherri's love interest.
More recently he has appeared as attorney Julius Cain in The Good Wife. In 2011, Boatman guest starred as Russell Thorpe on Gossip Girl, along with Tika Sumpter, who played his daughter Raina. In 2012, Boatman became a recurring character in the FX original series Anger Management, reuniting with his former Spin City co-star Charlie Sheen as Sheen's next door neighbor Michael. Beginning in late September 2013, he began co-starring in Nick at Nite's new series Instant Mom, alongside Tia Mowry-Hardrict. In 2016, Boatman recurred on the CBS All Access drama The Good Fight, reprising the role of attorney Julius Cain, the character he played on The Good Wife. He was promoted to series regular in the second season.

## Writing

Boatman is also a screenwriter and novelist. He sometimes writes in the splatterpunk horror genre. Joe R. Lansdale praised his first collection with "Michael Boatman writes like a visitor from hell. Someone out on short term leave for bad behavior. I love this stuff. He's one of the new, and more than promising, writers making his mark, and a dark and wonderful mark it is."
Many multi-author anthologies feature at least one of his short stories. They include Sick Things: An Anthology of Extreme Creature Horror, Until Someone Loses an Eye, Sages and Swords, Badass Horror and Christmas in Hell and Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction From Africa and the African Diaspora. He has been published in Weird Tales, Horror Garage and Red Scream. He introduced Cyber-Pulp Halloween 3.0 which was published by Cyber-pulp Books. His Born Again from Eulogies II: Tales From the Cellar received an Honorable Mention from Ellen Datlow in The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Six. His first collection of short stories, God Laughs When You Die, was published by Dybbuk Press on October 23, 2007. His humorous horror novel, The Revenant Road, was published by Drollerie Press in 2009.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1987 | Hamburger Hill | Specialist Ray Motown | |
| 1988 | Running on Empty | Spaulding | |
| 1992 | Unbecoming Age | Robert | |
| 1994 | The Glass Shield | Deputy J.J. Johnson | |
| 1997 | The Peacemaker | Lieutenant Beach | |
| 1998 | Walking to the Waterline | Marshall the Mover | |
| 2004 | Woman Thou Art Loosed | Todd | |
| 2006 | Kalamazoo? | Special Angel Albert | |
| 2007 | And Then Came Love | Ted | |
| 2008 | The Pool Boys | Donovan Tucker | |
| 2009 | The Killing of Wendy | Detective Blake | |
| 2009 | My Father's Will | Lawrence | |
| 2010 | Three Chris's | Walter Wayne | |
| 2010 | Philadelphia: The Great Experiment | Narrator | Short |
| 2010 | Inside Out | Katherine's Therapist | Short |
| 2011 | Queen of Media | Robert | |
| 2012 | Bad Parents | Gary | |
| 2017 | Anything | Charles | |
| 2017 | Like.Share.Follow | Norman | |
| 2018 | Second Act | Edward Taylor | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1988 | American Playhouse | - | Episode: "The Trial of Bernhard Goetz" |
| 1989 | Johnny Snipes | Dan Harvie | Supporting Cast |
| 1988–91 | China Beach | Pvt. Samuel Beckett | Main cast |
| 1990 | Donor | Arnold | TV movie |
| 1991 | Fourth Story | Sgt. Teal | TV movie |
| 1991 | Shades of LA | Dr. Robinson | Episode: "Line of Fire: Part 2" |
| 1992 | In the Line of Duty: Street War | Robert Dayton | TV movie |
| 1992 | Quantum Leap | Sergeant Billy Johnson | Episode: "Nowhere to Run" |
| 1992–93 | The Jackie Thomas Show | Grant Watson | Main cast |
| 1993 | House of Secrets | Sgt. Joe DuBois | TV movie |
| 1995 | Muscle | Garnet Hines | Main cast |
| 1995 | The Larry Sanders Show | Greg | Episode: "I Was a Teenage Lesbian" |
| 1995 | Living Single | Brent Washington | Episode: "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow... Dammit" |
| 1996–2002 | Spin City | Carter Haywood | Main cast |
| 1996–2002 | Arli$$ | Stanley Babson | Main cast |
| 2003 | Less Than Perfect | Ted Elliot | Episode: "The Umbrella" & "Choices" |
| 2003 | Law & Order | Defense Attorney Dave Seaver | Episode: "House Calls" |
| 2003–11 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Defense Attorney Dave Seaver | Recurring cast: Season 5-7 & 12 |
| 2004 | CSI: Miami | Wes Gallagher | Episode: "Not Landing" |
| 2004 | Yes, Dear | Adam | Episode: "Couples Therapy" |
| 2004 | Educating Lewis | Joe | TV movie |
| 2005 | Play Dates | Stewart | TV movie |
| 2005 | Scrubs | Ron Laver | Episode: "My Roommates" |
| 2005 | The Wonderful World of Disney | The Jester | Episode: "Once Upon a Mattress" |
| 2006 | Huff | Art | Episode: "Maps Don't Talk" |
| 2007 | Traveling in Packs | Bob | TV movie |
| 2007 | Frangela | Adam | TV movie |
| 2007 | Law & Order | Defense Attorney Dave Seaver | Episode: "Remains of the Day" |
| 2007 | Grey's Anatomy | Doug Kendry | Episode: "My Favorite Mistake" |
| 2008 | Hannah Montana | Randall Harrison | Episode: "Hannah in the Streets with Diamonds" |
| 2009 | Criminal Minds | William Harris | Episode: "Soul Mates" |
| 2009 | The Game | Lawrence Chauncey Wright | Recurring cast: Season 3 |
| 2009 | Warehouse 13 | Professor Ed Marzotto | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2009 | Sherri | Dr. Randolph Gregg | Recurring cast |
| 2009–15 | The Good Wife | Julius Cain | Recurring cast: Seasons 1–3 & 5, guest: Season 6 |
| 2010 | White Collar | Russel Smith | Episode: "Copycat Caffrey" |
| 2011 | Gossip Girl | Russell Thorpe | Recurring cast: Season 4 |
| 2011 | The Doctor | Dr. Robert Brody | TV movie |
| 2012 | Hornet's Nest | Richard Panessa | TV movie |
| 2012 | The Smart One | Tom Holiday | TV movie |
| 2012–14 | Anger Management | Michael | Recurring cast |
| 2013–15 | Instant Mom | Charlie Phillips | Main cast |
| 2016–17 | Madam Secretary | FBI Director Keith Doherty | Recurring cast: Season 3 |
| 2017 | The Other F Word | David Michaelson | Recurring cast: Season 2 |
| 2017–22 | The Good Fight | Julius Cain | Recurring cast: Season 1, main cast: Season 2–6 |
| 2022 | Would I Lie to You? (US) | Himself | Episode: "Criminal Bear" |
| 2022 | Law & Order | Defense Attorney Dave Seaver | Episode: "12 Seconds" |