Shultz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After his undergraduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette University, he attended Princeton University, where in 1966 he directed his first play, a production of Waiting for Godot. He joined the Negro Ensemble Company in 1968, which brought him to Broadway in 1969. His breakthrough was directing Lorraine Hansberry's To Be Young, Gifted and Black, which he restaged for television in 1972.
Schultz' earliest film projects combined low comedy with profound social comment (Honeybaby, Honeybaby and Cooley High). Eventually, he concentrated on pure-entertainment projects like Car Wash (1976) and Which Way is Up? (1977). He managed to survive the potential career-killer Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978), continuing to churn out profitable efforts like Scavenger Hunt (1979) and Disorderlies (1987).
As of late, Michael Schultz has worked in television, piloting episodes of such style-conscious series as The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and Picket Fences, as well as an abundance of made-for-TV movies.
