Michael Boatman is an actor of great versatility. He is perhaps best known for his 

Six-year run on the hit comedy series, SPIN CITY, for which he received two NAACP Image Awards. Michael recently completed six seasons on the hit series, THE GOOD FIGHT, playing conservative lawyer, Julius Cain, a character that he had created on the prior series, THE GOOD WIFE.  Other career highlights include series regular roles on ARLI$$ for HBO, INSTANT MOM on Nickelodeon, opposite Tia Mowry, and multiple seasons portraying Charlie Sheen’s best friend on the FX series, ANGER MANAGEMENT.

Boatman was born in Colorado Springs and grew up in Chicago as the oldest of three children. He studied theater at Western Illinois University, playing major roles in plays ranging from “Purlie Victorious” to “The Seagull” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” He performed at the Kennedy Center in the Irene Ryan National Competition, for which he won the Best Supporting Actor award. After graduating, Boatman was cast as Motown in the film “Hamburger Hill.” It was there that he met lifelong friends Steven Weber and Don Cheadle. Shortly after, he moved to Los Angeles where he starred in the award-winning ABC drama “China Beach.” Following that series run, he starred in “Muscle” opposite Alan Ruck and then moved on to the much-loved series “Spin City” for six seasons. Over the years, Boatman has recurred on shows such as “The Larry Sanders Show,” “Living Single,” “The Jackie Thomas Show,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Sherri” opposite Sherri Shepherd. Boatman has appeared in numerous movies for television, including “In the Line of Duty: Street War,” the PBS special, “The Trial of Bernard Goetz” and ABC’s “Once Upon a Mattress.” 

Boatman’s feature films include the lead role of J.J. Johnson in “The Glass Shield,” “Woman Thou Art Loosed,” “Bad Parents,” “Peacemaker” and Sidney Lumet’s “Running on Empty,” among others. His theater work includes “Master Harold and the Boys” at the Roundabout Theatre Company on Broadway starring opposite Danny Glover, “The Glass Menagerie” in San Francisco and “Tiny Mommy” at Playwright’s Horizons. Most recently, Boatman has performed at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre the past two seasons in productions of “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Robinhood!”