Tucker, Michael 1944-

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Tucker, Michael 1944-

PERSONAL:

Born February 6, 1944, in Baltimore, MD; married Jill Eikenberry (an actress), 1973; children: (first marriage) Alison; (second marriage) Max. Education: Carnegie Mellon University, graduate.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—Stone Manners, 900 Broadway, Ste. 803, New York, NY 10003.

CAREER:

Writer, actor. Former member of Long Wharf Theater, New Haven, CT, the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and Arena Stage, Washington, DC. Broadway and other stage acting credits include Moonchildren, Modigliani, The Rivals, Mother Courage, Oh What a Lovely War, Trelawney of the Wells, The Goodbye People, I'm Not Rappaport, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Measure for Measure, The Tempest, and Comedy of Errors. Appearances at Manhattan Theater Club, Roundabout Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage, Phoenix Theater, Lincoln Center, Shakespeare in the Park, as well as on and off-Broadway. Film credits include Radio Days, Purple Rose of Cairo, Diner, Tin Men, An Unmarried Woman, A Night Full of Rain, Eyes of Laura Mars, Network, Checking Out, For Love or Money, Mighty Ducks II, and Till There Was You. Television credits include, Ryan's Hope, television series, 1981; L.A. Law, NBC-TV series, 1986-94; Chicken Soup for the Soul, host, PAX, 1999. Other television movies and appearances include, Maximum Liability, Concealed Enemies, Day One, Too Young to Die, Growing Up Brady, L.A. Law: The Movie, and others. Producer, with wife, Jill Eikenberry, of documentary film Emile Norman? By His Own Design. Actor, with Jill Eikenberry, in two-person show.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Three Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations for L.A. Law; Good Guys Award, National Women's Political Caucus.

WRITINGS:

I Never Forget a Meal: An Indulgent Reminiscence, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1995.

Living in a Foreign Language: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Love in Italy, photographs by Kristine Walsh, Atlantic Monthly Press (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Stage, screen, and television actor Michael Tucker, perhaps best known for his role as the somewhat quiet lawyer Stuart Markowitz on the NBC series L.A. Law, is also the author of two books of reminiscences, both of which have food themes. His 1995 work, I Never Forget a Meal: An Indulgent Reminiscence, was part memoir and part cookbook, documenting his lifelong love for food. Each memory from his life is accompanied with a recipe that evokes the time and place. For example, he includes a recipe for crab cakes to summon up his childhood in Baltimore, Maryland. Altogether, Tucker lists twenty-nine recipes, relying heavily on pasta and other Italian food, and aimed at cooks with some experience in the kitchen. The book was also noted for Tucker's humorous approach to recollections from his life.

Tucker's 2007 book, Living in a Foreign Language: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Love in Italy, once again features an array of food blended with memoir. Tucker and his wife, the actress Jill Eikenberry, were on vacation in Europe between acting jobs when they fell in love with a centuries-old house in Italy and immediately bought it. Tucker's book celebrates the life the two built in Italy, learning the language, discovering new food, and also creating a new relationship with each other after more than three decades of marriage. The 350-year-old cottage in Umbria, Rustico, was a far cry from their home in California, and needed care and restoration. The couple was also quickly befriended by the locals, Italians and other internationals. Another early discovery was the wealth of food in the region, served up in ristorantes, trattorias, and tavernas. Tucker made a point of sampling all the local food he could, an experiment that led him to work the excess calories off at a local gym. Soon the couple began to feel more at home in Italy than they did in the United States. On their occasional return trips to California, their friends would beg off their invitation to an Italian feast, pleading diets and health concerns. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly found Tucker's account "lighthearted," and called this "food memoir and travelogue a satisfying look into the good life." Booklist contributor Mark Knoblauch had similar praise, concluding, "Foodies will slaver and bristle with envy at the surfeit of pungently fresh truffles that appear at seemingly every meal." Likewise, Library Journal writer Sheila Kasperek thought the work was "readable and will be enjoyed by readers who like the expat-in-Italy genre."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Tucker, Michael, I Never Forget a Meal: An Indulgent Reminiscence, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1995.

Tucker, Michael, Living in a Foreign Language: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Love in Italy, photographs by Kristine Walsh, Atlantic Monthly Press (New York, NY), 2007.