Bio
Michael C. Hall is an American actor best known for his starring television roles as David Fisher in Six Feet Under and as Dexter Morgan in Dexter.
Born in North Carolina, Hall graduated from New York University's Master of Fine Arts program in acting and went on to perform in Off-Broadway theatre productions including Macbeth, Cymbeline, Timon of Athens, Henry V at the Public, The English Teachers, Corpus Christi and Skylight.
Hall made his TV debut in 2001 with the role of David Fisher in the television drama series Six Feet Under, which he revived during all five seasons of the show.
He made his film debut in 2003 with a role in John Woo's Paycheck and in 2004 he had a role in Showtime's made-for-TV movie Bereft.
In 2006 he was cast as Dexter in the Showtime crime/thriller drama series of the same name. An Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Dexter, Hall won Golden Globe and SAG awards in 2010 and the 2007 TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama.
For his performance as Dexter Morgan, Hall received four consecutive Emmy Award nominations, five SAG Award nominations and five Golden Globe nominations. The Dexter acting ensemble also received SAG Award nominations for the third, fourth and fifth seasons.
Based on Jeff Lindsay's cult novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dexter explores the mind of a sociopathic killer who targets criminals who have essayed more conventional methods of punishment.
A formally trained stage actor, Hall made an indelible impression as younger brother David Fisher on HBO's groundbreaking series Six Feet Under. During the series' five year run, Hall garnered nominations for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and the AFI Male Television Actor of the Year Award.
Hall and the Six Feet Under cast received 2003 and 2004 Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, for which they were also nominated in 2002, 2005 and 2006.
Hall's film credits include Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor's Gamer, John Woo's Paycheck and the independent dramas Bereft, Peep World and East Fifth Bliss.
A North Carolina native and graduate of New York University's Master of Fine Arts program in acting, Hall has appeared in numerous major stage productions. He made his Broadway debut as the emcee in Cabaret, directed by Sam Mendes and starred as Billy Flynn in Chicago.
Off-Broadway, Hall starred opposite Alec Baldwin and Angela Bassett in Macbeth, directed by George C. Wolfe and Cymbeline with Liev Schreiber for the New York Shakespeare Festival, Timon of Athens and Henry V at the Public Theater, The English Teachers for Manhattan Class Company, the Manhattan Theater Club's production of Corpus Christi, directed by Joe Mantello and with Brian Cox in Skylight at the Mark Taper Forum.
On 1 May, 2003, Hall married actress Amy Spanger; he played Billy Flynn opposite her Roxie Hart in the Broadway musical Chicago the summer after their wedding. The couple separated in 2005 and filed for divorce in 2006.
On 31 December, 2008, he eloped with Jennifer Carpenter, who plays the character of Dexter Morgan's foster sister, Debra Morgan, on Showtime's Dexter. They dated for a year prior to getting married.
On December 18, 2010, Carpenter filed for divorce from Hall, citing irreconcilable differences. The filing also stated that the two had been separated since August 2010 and that she was seeking spousal support. Their divorce was finalised on 2 December 2011.