Michael Ontkean

Michael Ontkean
Michael Ontkean, left, in The Rookies cast photo.
Born	Michael Leonard Ontkean (1946-01-24) 24 January 1946 (age 70) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1955-2011

Michael Leonard Ontkean (born 24 January 1946) is a retired Canadian actor. He is known for the 1970s crime drama The Rookies, the films Slap Shot (1977) and Making Love (1982), and the cult-favorite TV series Twin Peaks (1990–1991).

Ontkean was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of Muriel (née Cooper), an actress, and Leonard Ontkean, a boxer and actor. He was a child actor in Vancouver and he appeared on the Canadian television series Hudson's Bay (1959). His family later relocated to Toronto, where he attended St. Michael's Choir School, Holy Rosary and later, St. Michael's College School.

Ontkean also grew up playing hockey and he earned a hockey scholarship to the University of New Hampshire, a Division I program playing in the ECAC. In his three years on the varsity program, Ontkean scored 63 goals and 111 points in 85 games played. He led the team in goal scoring his junior year with 30 goals, and was second behind fellow Canadian Louis Frigon his senior year.

Ontkean began in Hollywood by guest starring in The Partridge Family in 1971, and he was a television guest player on such shows as Ironside and Longstreet, but his break and best-known TV role was in the ABC series The Rookies (1972–1976), in which he played Officer Willie Gillis for the first two seasons.