Micky Dolenz - Biography

Last Editor: Barbara				Micky Dolenz Biography -   Name : Micky Dolenz Profession : Actor/ Director/Musician Birth Details : born March 8, 1945 Birth name : George Michael Dolenz Jr. Height : 6' (1.83 m) Personal quotes : (when asked what he did when the Monkees first broke up) "I think I slept for about two years!" Salary : "The Monkees" (1966) $450/episode Spouse : Donna Quinter (20 September 2002 - present) Trina Dow (1977 - 1991) (divorced) 3 daughters Samantha Juste (12 July 1968 - 1975) (divorced) 1 daught

Micky Dolenz Trivia -

Auditioned for the role of Fonzie on "Happy Days" (1974). Member of The Monkees He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care." Father of Ami Dolenz. Son of actor George Dolenz Son of Janelle Johnson Dolenz. Owned the third Moog Synthesizer ever commercially sold (the first two belonged to Wendy Carlos and Buck Owens); his performance on the Monkees' song "Daily Nightly" (written by Michael Nesmith) was the first use of a synthesizer on a rock recording. He eventually sold his instrument to Bobby Sherman. Grew up playing guitar; had taken some lessons at the suggestion of "Circus Boy" (1956)'s producers in the 1950s. In his teens, Dolenz played guitar and sang in a series of cover bands, with names like "Micky and the One-Nighters" and "The Missing Links" (!). One of these bands was signed to a record company and made some demos, which were released as singles (under his own name) after the Monkees became popular. When chosen for the role of the Monkees' drummer, he signed up for daily drum lessons in order to fake playing them well enough for the cameras. When being able to actually play became crucial to the Monkees project, he had gotten to the point where he could carry off a stage show, but playing drums and holding tempo proved difficult in the recording studio. He played drums on every track of their Headquarters album, but gladly relinquished the role to studio drummers for their later albums. Enjoyed crafts, hobbies and building things - including a Gyrocopter (sold as a kit in the 1960s and 70s) in his living room, but had to have a wall torn out to take it outside. Was drafted to serve in the U.S. Army in 1967 (as was Davy Jones); despite medical grounds for deferment (trouble with Perthese disease since childhood left him with one leg shorter than the other), Dolenz was told "Don't worry; we'll only make you fight on hillsides." Dolenz was eventually excused from military service for being underweight, when he went for his physical. (Jones was also excused, as his family's only source of support.) Married Samantha Juste of Britain's "Top of the Pops" (1964) fame in the summer of 1968, after she became pregnant with their daughter Ami Dolenz. His stepfather Dr. Robert Scott, a minister, conducted the ceremony at their Los Angeles home. Unlike Michael Nesmith and Davy Jones, who had had to keep their marriages a secret, he decided to share the news of his wedding with the public. Continued singing on records after the Monkees ended, with a series of singles contracts for labels like MGM; many of the records were made at his own home studio. While they usually found critical praise, none became hits. Dolenz also found work doing voiceovers for cartoons, like "Funky Phantom" (1971) and "Devlin" (1974). Dolenz and first wife Samantha Juste became famous for their large, sometimes wild house parties with lots of celebrities attending; Dolenz' occasional excesses with alcohol and drugs (during his early-70s career slump) was a factor in their marriage breaking up, as Sammy wanted their daughter Ami to have a stable home life. Renewed his friendship with singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson, who'd written for the Monkees, in the mid-1970s; Dolenz occasionally joined Nilsson and John Lennon in their legendary "nights out" (which sometimes lasted several days). Later Dolenz and Davy Jones appeared on the London stage in an adaptation of Nilsson's 'The Point'. After "The Point!" Dolenz found work in England producing television programs for the BBC (using the Monkees' final TV episode, which he'd directed and co-written, as his demo reel). Aside from the occasional business or family trip back (and also a few celebrity tennis matches), Dolenz didn't return to the U.S. for the next fifteen years. Quit the re-formed Monkees briefly at the end of the 1980s, citing problems with clashing egos and ideas, but returned for their next tour. Played the drums using a left-handed setup (bass drum on the left, hi-hat and snare drum on the right) even though he is right-handed. He wore a wig during the first season of the Monkees' TV show. His hair was naturally wavy and did not fit the image of the other three Monkees, which was straight. He would wet his hair down before each day of shooting and put on a mop-top, straight-haired wig. When the Monkees assumed a free-form image during the second season, he stopped wearing the wig, and sported the 'afro' look. Fared best of all the Monkees when it came to their royalty payments. While Tork gave most of his money away, Jones lost most of his in bad investments and Nesmith spent his on family luxuries and artistic projects, Dolenz trusted his mother Janelle to handle his money, which she invested carefully in "safe" stocks and holdings. He is the morning radio deejay on New York City's Oldies Station WCBS FM. The song "Hey Mickey" by Toni Basil back in the 80's was about the only "Mickey" she knew- Micky Dolenz. Toni choreographed the movie HEAD and was in the movie dancing with Davy in the harem scene. She went on to be in Easy Rider in 1969 (which involved Jack Nicholson and Bert Schneider, who were a big part of the movie HEAD). He was released with all the other disc jockeys in June 2005 from New York City's WCBS-FM, due to a format change.

Micky Dolenz Detailed Biography -

George Michael Dolenz (born March 8, 1945), better known as Micky Dolenz, is an American actor, musician, and television and theatre director best known for being one of The Monkees. He was born in Los Angeles, California to George Dolenz, a Hollywood character actor, and his wife Janelle Johnson. Dolenz began his show business career in 1956 when he starred in a children’s show called Circus Boy under the name Micky Braddock. In the show he played an orphaned boy who is the water boy for the elephants in his uncle’s one-ring circus at the turn of the 20th Century. The program ran for three years, after which Dolenz made sporadic appearances on network TV shows and pursued his education. He also played with a couple of obscure rock and roll bands, including one called The Missing Links. In 1965 Dolenz was cast in the television sitcom The Monkees and became the drummer and lead vocalist for the band created for the show. He wrote a few of the band’s songs as well as providing the lead vocals for such hits as “Last Train to Clarksville� and “I’m a Believer�. Toward the end of the series’ two-year run Dolenz directed and co-wrote what turned out to be the show’s final episode. While in the UK on tour with the group, Dolenz met and married Samantha Juste, the girl who pretended to put the records on the jukebox on the BBC's "live" pop series, Top of the Pops. Daughter Ami Dolenz, now an actress, was born in 1969; Dolenz and Juste divorced in 1975. After the show ended and the band broke up, Dolenz provided voice-overs for a number of Saturday-morning cartoon series. He also auditioned for the role of Fonzie on the series Happy Days, but lost out to Henry Winkler. He eventually reunited with fellow Monkee Davy Jones and songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart for a record and a tour, but he had bigger success with a stage production of the Harry Nilsson musical The Point! in London. After the show’s run, he remained in England and began directing for the stage and television, as well as producing several of the shows he directed. He has since joined the other ex-Monkees for reunion tours and has continued to direct for television both in England and in the United States. While Tim Burton was still slated to direct Batman Forever, Micky was considered to play The Riddler, and even did a screen test for the role. However, Burton's exit from the film ended Micky's involvement. (An ironic footnote is that "Circus Boy" co-starred Robert Lowery, who played Batman in the 1949 Columbia serial Batman And Robin.) Not to be left out of the Batman franchise completely, Dolenz, as a voice actor, played Two-Face's twin henchmen in the two-part episode "Two-Face" on Batman: The Animated Series. In 2005 Dolenz replaced Harry Harrison as the morning disc jockey at oldies radio station WCBS-FM in New York. On June 3, 2005, Micky celebrated his 100th show with a special morning show at B.B. Kings. At 5:00 PM, WCBS-FM announced that the station would replace its oldies format with a "Jack" format. Micky went on tour with his sister, singer Coco Dolenz.