Michael "Max" Cantor (May 15, 1959 – October 3, 1991) was an American journalist and actor in films such as Dirty Dancing (1987) and Fear, Anxiety & Depression (1989).

He spent his summers until age 14 at Camp Hillcroft in Billings, New York, alongside fellow campers such as the children of American Federation of Teachers president Albert Shanker and actor Burt Lancaster.

Cantor was a 1982 graduate of Harvard University, where he lived in Adams House and starred in several productions by student director Peter Sellars.

At the time he died, he was conducting research and writing a book about Rakowitz and the murder of dancer Monika Beerle.

[1][2] "The Strange Sad Death of Max Cantor", Sarah Ferguson, 'Esquire' February 1992, pp.