Deciding to pursue acting professionally, he left his teaching post after only a couple of years and returned to Wisconsin where he joined up with the Belfry Players and traveled the country in stock shows.

A Warner Bros. talent scout picked up on Michael's dark, wavy-haired good looks and convinced him to travel West to audition for the lead role of George Gershwin in the biopic Rhapsody in Blue (1945).

The part went to Robert Alda, however, and he was about to return to NY when a meeting with RKO Pictures resulted in a contract.

Producer Howard Hughes kept Michael under contract despite his lack of stature and following a few parts in such films as Easy Living (1949), Flying Leathernecks (1951), The Pace That Thrills (1952) and The French Line (1953), he was dropped.

Outside of acting, to make ends meet Michael worked for producer Howard Hughes over at TWA at one point and also served as a personal assistant to his old friend, columnist Walter Winchell.