Appearances

Title	Role	Year	Approx. Age
Phantasm	Michael 'Mike' Pearson	1979	15
Kenny and Company	Doug	1976	12

In 1979, 15-year-old A. Michael Baldwin stepped off the plane in Japan to thousands of screaming girls. He and his companions dived into a limo and were chased down the street. "It was great!" Baldwin was quoted as saying. At that time he was the 26th most popular actor in Japan, between Charlton Heston and Richard Dreyfuss, according to Japan's Screen Magazine. In fact he had also achieved cult status in horror circles here in the states. What made this popularity?

A. Michael Baldwin was born into a Show business family in Los Angeles. His father was a voice character and director of the hugely successful "Rocky and Bulllwinke" Cartoon series (1961-1964), The Jetsons (1962-1988) and George of the Jungle(1967-1970). After a series of commercials for the likes of Ritz crackers, American Airlines, Cheerios, McDonald's, and every kids' favorite ? Oreo cookies ? Baldwin was sent by his father on an "open casting" call in Long Beach. There he met producer / Director Don Coscarelli, a relationship that would prove to be one of the most important in his career. "He just turned out to be perfect for the part," Coscarelli recalls. "He was one of the better actors I'd ever worked with even though he was only 11 years old at the time."

The role he won with Coscarelli was the wise-cracking buddy "Doug" in Kenny & Co. (1976). But the role that Baldwin will be best remembered is the frightened kid "Mike Pearson" in the cult horror classic Phantasm (1979). So the film's promotional tour in Japan unleashed a tsunami of girlish adulation and Baldwin has been working to fine tune his Phantasm role since then... Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994), Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998).

After a temporarily reprise from acting in the 1980s to pursue a spiritual path. (Michael practices Eastern Mysticism) He is currently teaching acting in Austin, Texas