Michael Moore is an Academy Award-winning American filmmaker, author, actor, and political activist. Three of his documentary films are among the highest grossing of all time, and they all address nationwide political and social concerns. He was born in Michigan in 1954 to working class parents. His father worked on an automotive assembly line and his uncle was one of the founders of the United Automobile Workers labor union. He attended the University of Michigan-Flint while working a day job at the General Motors plant, but soon dropped out; however, at age twenty-two he founded an alternative magazine, The Flint Voice, which later became The Michigan Voice.

In 1986, Moore became the editor of Mother Jones, a liberal political magazine based in California. After a controversy involving his refusal to print an article that was critical of the Sandinista's in Nicaragua, he was fired from his editorial position, and then successfully sued the publication for wrongful dismissal. His settlement money from the lawsuit provided funds for his first film, Roger & Me, which detailed the economic disaster that followed the shutdown of Michigan steel and automotive plants. That film and subsequent others, as well as a number of appearances on television shows were so successful that Moore found himself seated next to former President Jimmy Carter at the 2004 Democratic Convention. During that campaign year, Moore spoke at numerous colleges and universities in what he called his "Slacker Uprising Tour."

Never afraid of controversy, Moore's 2002 film, Bowling for Columbine focused on the culture of guns and violence in the United States, with an emphasis on the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. The film was a great commercial and critical success. His documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11 examined the political and cultural climate of post-September 11th America, especially the record of the Bush administration and supposed links between the Bush family and Osama bin Laden. The film received numerous awards and remains the highest-grossing documentary film of all time. Moore’s film, Sicko, was released in 2007 and confronts the American medical insurance/medical care crisis.

Moore has a quieter personal life. In 1990, Moore married producer Kathleen Glynn, with whom he has a stepdaughter. The family splits their time between New York City and Michigan.

Image: Michael Moore in 2004.