Biography
Though immediately recognizable to television fans as the dryly humorous, wool cap-wearing Mike on "The Monkees" (NBC, 1966-69), Michael Nesmith eclipsed his brief tenure as a pop idol with an eclectic résumé of accomplishments, including being a country-rock pioneer, a leading figure in home video distributor and one of the primary, if uncredited forces behind the creation of MTV. Nesmith's quiet demeanor and love for traditional country …
Latest Tv Credits
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Career Milestones
| Developed "Popclips", the prototype for MTV; produced 56 half-hour episodes for the upstart network | ||
| Formed The First National Band with London, John Ware and Red Rhodes | ||
| Formed the folk-rock duo Mike and John with John London | ||
| Moved to Memphis; was a sessions musician on Stax-Volt records | ||
| Raised in Texas | ||
| Relocated to Los Angeles | ||
| Sponsored a residency at the AFI encouraging music and video artists to collaborate in the interest of creating music video innovations; established The Michael Nesmith Award, a grant to aid such endeavors | ||
| Was a member of the United States Air Force for two years | ||
1965 | Answered a call in Variety looking for musicians who could act; cast on "The Monkees" | |
1966 | "The Monkees", a rock and roll sitcom, aired on NBC; the quartet becomes an instant pop phenomenon | |
1967 | The Monkees buck their prefab beginnings, writing, producing and playing their own instruments for the bulk of the album "Headquarters" at Nesmith's urging | |
1968 | His song "Different Drum" was a hit for The Stone Poneys (led by vocalist Linda Ronstadt) | |
1968 | Recorded first solo album, "Wichita Train Whistle Songs" | |
1968 | Starred in The Monkees psychedelic feature film "Head", scripted by Jack Nicholson | |
1969 | Hosted the NBC special "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee" | |
1970 | Country-rock single "Joanne" hit the Top 40 | |
1977 | Began producing music videos, predating MTV with the surrealistic short film for his song "Rio" | |
1982 | Was executive producer, screenwriter and music performer for the sci-fi Western "Timerider" | |
1983 | His innovative music videos "Rio" and "Cruisin'" released as the home video "Rio and Cruisin" | |
1984 | Produced the Alex Cox cult classic "Repo Man" | |
1985 | Was executive producer, writer and host of "Michael Nesmith in Television Parts" (NBC), a TV series of music videos and comedy based on his experimental music video project "Television Parts" | |
1987 | Executive produced the drama feature "Square Dance" | |
1987 | Had a cameo in the Whoopi Goldberg comedy vehicle "Burglar" | |
1988 | Produced and had a cameo in the quirky music-themed comedy "Tapeheads", starring John Cusack and Tim Robbins | |
1997 | Was executive producer, writer and director as well as star of the contemporary reunion special "Hey, Hey, It's the Monkees" (ABC) | |