Michael Smith Popular Books

Michael Smith Biography & Facts

Brian Michael Smith (born January 29, 1983) is an American actor and LGBT advocate. He is known for playing Paul Strickland in 9-1-1: Lone Star. Early life Smith was raised on the east side of Ann Arbor, Michigan by his mother, Ingrid Smith, an event planner and Ford Motor Company employee, with the support of a close-knit family. He and his mother spent his early years living with aunts, cousins, and a brother. Although assigned female at birth, he identified and was perceived as male throughout his childhood. He challenged pressures to conform to his assigned gender role through performance and athletics.While attending Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, he played defensive end and fullback on the boys football team during the fall, and set records in shot put and pole vaulting on the girls track & field team in the spring. On September 17, 1999, during a game at Traverse City, Smith became the first person assigned female at birth to score a varsity touchdown in the State of Michigan. Career His role as Toine Wilkins, a police officer, in Ava DuVernay's Queen Sugar, (OWN), launched him into a series of high-profile roles including political strategist Pierce Williams in Showtime's The L Word: Generation Q (2019) cast. Smith became the first black openly trans man in a series regular role on network television when he was cast as firefighter Paul Strickland in FOX's 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020). Other appearances include NBC's Chicago P.D., HBO's Girls and Showtime's thriller Homeland. Smith studied acting and video production at Kent State University. Upon graduation, he began teaching drama and media literacy to teens until he moved to New York City to pursue a career in acting.He began training under Terry Knickerbocker at the William Esper Studio in 2011. While studying, he earned featured roles on a few TV shows and a Toyota commercial opposite Eli Manning.He has also explored the stage, performing stand-up, sketch, and improv comedy as a member of numerous troupes including Gotham City Improv, as well as acting in off-Broadway and regional theater in a handful of plays, including Women Are Crazy Because Men Are A**Holes and Mitch Albom's Duck Hunter Shoots Angel.In 2015, he earned his first speaking credit in Season 4 of HBO's Girls opposite Jemima Kirke and Adam Driver. This followed with similar roles on TV shows including Blue Bloods, Person of Interest, and Law & Order: SVU. Queen Sugar In 2017, Smith was cast in the role of Officer Antoine "Toine" Wilkins on OWN's series Queen Sugar. Toine is a trans man. Executive-produced by Ava DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey, the Louisiana-set drama focuses on the lives and loves of the estranged Bordelon siblings. The show is based on the novel Queen Sugar by Natalie Baszile.The role was one of Smith's first opportunities to play a transgender character and explore his own life experiences in his acting. As he has put it: Toine and Ralph's relationship is much more reflective of the experiences I've had with long-time friends and I hadn't seen that on screen yet. I was excited at the thought of sharing this with people who may not know that they know trans people in their personal life. In 2018, Ava Duvernay won a GLAAD Excellence in Media Award for her advocacy for inclusion of LGBT people in front of and behind the camera on her projects, particularly for creating Toine Wilkins and casting a transgender actor for the role.In 2019, Smith was cast Showtime's drama series The L Word: Generation Q a follow-up to the original hit series, The L Word starring Jennifer Beals, Leisha Hailey and Kate Moennig. Smith played "'Pierce Williams' a buttoned-up, fastidious, expert political strategist and a veteran of LA politics. Unlike his colleagues, Williams is not quick to share details about his personal life, choosing to put all his energy into winning campaigns." 9-1-1 Lone Star In 2020, Smith was cast in 9-1-1: Lone Star as Paul Strickland, a transgender male firefighter. Through the role, Smith became the first openly black trans man cast as a series regular on broadcast TV. In 2021, Smith's appearance and performance as Strickland was praised by People Magazine, making Smith the first trans man featured in People's "Sexiest Man Alive" list. In 2022, Smith was featured again in People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" list. Speaking on his second year of inclusion, Smith said, "My hope is that my visibility can encourage and empower others who want to be their full selves but are afraid or can't see a future for themselves, to take a step towards being who they are." Filmography Advocacy Upon graduating from Kent State, Michael returned to Michigan and began teaching and mentoring youth through filmmaking through the Gear Up Program at the University of Michigan.In New York, he continued his media literacy and mentoring programs with Wingspan Arts, Maysles Documentary Center and the Tribeca Film Institute's Tribeca Teaches Program. He discovered the importance of community and visibility while he worked with LGBT youth at the Manhattan LGBT CenterOn NBC News, Smith said: "I worked with young people and I just saw how important it was for young LGBT people, no matter where they were in their experience, to see what is down the road for them."Since Queen Sugar, Smith has used his visibility and platforms to advocate for better trans representation in television and film and to encourage LGBTQ youth to create their own media. Smith publicly revealed he was transgender in 2017.In February 2018, he was a special guest and panelist at the University of Michigan's 4th Annual Trotter House Lecture Series, My Life, My Story! Centering the Lives of Trans Voices event alongside Janet Mock and Amiyah Scott.During NYC Pride he participated in the GLAAD Game Changers Panel in 2018 with Jamie Clayton and Amiyah Scott to discuss the changing landscape of transgender representation in television. In August 2018, Smith joined Laverne Cox, Trace Lysette, Jen Richards, Alexandra Billings and Chaz Bono in a Variety magazine's first Transgender in Hollywood Roundtable. The hour-long roundtable was released in conjunction with the August 7 print issue dedicated to trans representation and discrimination within Hollywood. During the discussion, Smith said: "We are artists and we want to create things and we want to have choice and our visibility should not cost us that choice."In addition to public speaking, he continues to advocate through his art and to support trans narratives in television and film by participating in projects such as Sam Feder's documentary, Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen released on June 19, 2020, by Netflix.In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named him among the fifty heroes "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people".In July 2021, Smith joined the Human Rights Campaign's Board of Director, the nation's largest LGBT-interest activist org.... Discover the Michael Smith popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Michael Smith books.

Best Seller Michael Smith Books of 2024

  • John Denver synopsis, comments

    John Denver

    John Collis

    John Denver was America's biggestselling solo star of the '70s. In commercial terms he was on a par with Sinatra in the '40s, Elvis in the '50s and the Beatles in the '60s. He expe...

  • Trying to Float synopsis, comments

    Trying to Float

    Nicolaia Rips

    “Hysterically droll, touching, elegant, and wisea comingofage story from someone who possibly came of age before her parents” (Patricia Marx, New Yorker writer and bestselling auth...

  • The Mandate of Heaven synopsis, comments

    The Mandate of Heaven

    Mike Smith

    Gods walk among us.  Indomitable, all knowing and longlived, they guide us, nurture us and protect us. They are answerable to nobody, beholden to nothing. They are the HighLor...

  • Illusion synopsis, comments

    Illusion

    Frank Peretti

    The New York Times bestselling author of This Present Darkness and “master storyteller” (Karen Kingsbury, New York Times bestselling author) crafts a stunning thriller about a grie...

  • Not a Game synopsis, comments

    Not a Game

    Kent Babb

    Shortlisted for the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing“A searingly honest and intimate portrait of a captivating icon.” Baxter Holmes, ESPN NBA reporterThrough extensive re...

  • Hero synopsis, comments

    Hero

    Rhonda Byrne

    From Rhonda Byrne, creator of the international bestselling movie and book, The Secret, comes Hero, her latest worldchanging project and the most important to date.FROM ZERO TO HER...

  • The Mammoth Book of Hollywood Scandals synopsis, comments

    The Mammoth Book of Hollywood Scandals

    Michelle Morgan

    Murders, suicides, unexplained deaths, scandalous romances, illegitimate children, coverups, and more, from the 1920s to Hollywood's Golden Age in the 1960s and right up to the pre...

  • From Saturday Night to Sunday Night synopsis, comments

    From Saturday Night to Sunday Night

    Dick Ebersol

    A memoir by the legendary television executive detailing his pioneering work on Saturday Night Live, Sunday Night Football, the Olympics, the NBA, music videos, late night, and mor...

  • Those Guys Have All the Fun synopsis, comments

    Those Guys Have All the Fun

    Tom Shales & James Andrew Miller

    In the exclusive behind the scenes look, sports fans can unlock the fascinating history of the channel that changed the way people watch and interact with their favorite teams. It...

  • Shock Wave synopsis, comments

    Shock Wave

    Clive Cussler

    A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'Cussler is hard to beat' Daily MailThe thirteenth adrenalinefilled Dirk Pitt classic from multimillioncopy king of the adventure novel, Clive Cussler.A hu...

  • Collateral Damage synopsis, comments

    Collateral Damage

    Mark Shaw

    If there had been no coverup of Robert Kennedy’s complicity in the murder of Marilyn Monroe in 1962 and he had been prosecuted based on compelling evidence at the time, the assassi...

  • Lies They Teach in School synopsis, comments

    Lies They Teach in School

    Herb W. Reich

    It is a cliché that history is written by the victors, but what we accept as history is replete with stories of great men and events that either never happened or didn’t happen the...

  • Rise the Dark synopsis, comments

    Rise the Dark

    Michael Koryta

    Rise the dark. These were the last words written in Lauren Novak's notebook before she was murdered in a strange Florida village. They've never meant anything to the police or to h...

  • The Best of Michael Marshall Smith synopsis, comments

    The Best of Michael Marshall Smith

    Michael Marshall Smith

    In 1990, Britishborn author Michael Marshall Smith burst on to the literary scene with his first story “The Man Who Drew Cats.” It won the prestigious British Fantasy Award for Bes...

  • Lists to Love By for Busy Husbands synopsis, comments

    Lists to Love By for Busy Husbands

    Mark Merrill & Susan Merrill

    The founders of Family First, Mark and Susan Merrill, present a collection of lists created for the busy husband who wants a more intimate, fulfilling union with his wife.Husbands ...

  • Domino synopsis, comments

    Domino

    Editors of domino

    From the editors of domino magazine comes your essential guide to discovering your personal style and creating a space you love.Since launching in 2005, domino has attracted a fier...

  • Denial synopsis, comments

    Denial

    Peter James

    Introducing policeman Glenn Branson...When actress Gloria Lamark takes her own life, her devoted son, Thomas, is heartbroken. Something must be wrong with a world in which such a t...

  • Facing Michael Jordan synopsis, comments

    Facing Michael Jordan

    Sean Deveney & Kent McDill

    Relive the magic of the greatest player to ever step on the court.“Air Jordan,” “His Airness,” “MJ.”Whatever you call him, Michael Jeffrey Jordan can be considered one of the great...

  • Cabin Fever synopsis, comments

    Cabin Fever

    Michael Smith & Jonathan Franklin

    The true story of the Holland America cruise ship Zaandam, which set sail with a deadly and littleunderstood stowawayCOVID19days before the world shut down in March 2020. ...

  • The Devil Himself synopsis, comments

    The Devil Himself

    Peter Farris

    For Fans of Brian Panowich and Ron Rash. Southern Noir at its finest, The Devil Himself, sizzles with pageburning suspense and bewitching characters. Deep in the forest o...

  • Losing My Voice to Find It synopsis, comments

    Losing My Voice to Find It

    Mark Stuart

    The incredible story of a lead singer's rise to fame and his crushing fall when he lost his singing voice, his career, and his marriageand then found a new calling more in tune wit...

  • George Michael synopsis, comments

    George Michael

    Rob Jovanovic

    George Michael is an enigma. While he is one of the most open and vocal pop superstars on the planet, he also fiercely protective of his privacy. From the formation of Wham! In 198...

  • Boys Keep Swinging synopsis, comments

    Boys Keep Swinging

    Jake Shears

    In this “exhilarating yet poignant account of one boy taking flight” (Shelf Awareness, starred review), one of rock music's most entrancing figures transforms the vividness of his ...

  • Blowing the Bloody Doors Off synopsis, comments

    Blowing the Bloody Doors Off

    Michael Caine

    Now in his 85th year, Hollywood legend Michael Caine shares wisdom and stories from his remarkable career in this "engrossing" memoir that "shines with positive energy" (Library Jo...

  • Sports Betting for Winners synopsis, comments

    Sports Betting for Winners

    Rob Miech

    “Rob Miech has outdone himself with this poignant, behindthecurtains revelation of a world of parlays and moneyline wagers, of mobruled games, and characters named Lem and Lefty. T...

  • Killer Elite synopsis, comments

    Killer Elite

    Michael Smith

    For the first time ever, the explosive truth behind the world's most secret Special Operations organization A topsecret U.S. Army Special Operations unit has been running covert mi...

  • A Billion Years synopsis, comments

    A Billion Years

    Mike Rinder

    One of the highestranking defectors from Scientology exposes the secret inner workings of the powerful organization in this remarkable memoir.Mike Rinder’s parents began taking him...

  • LIV and Let Die synopsis, comments

    LIV and Let Die

    Alan Shipnuck

    Alan Shipnuck, the New York Times bestselling author of Phil, returns with a major new work of insider reporting on the battle for the soul of professional golf between the PGA Tou...

  • The Mueller Report synopsis, comments

    The Mueller Report

    The Washington Post

    ONE OF TIME’S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEARThe Crucial #1 New York Times Bestseller“The Mueller report is that rare Washington tellall that surpasses its prepublication hype…the best ...

  • The Space Opera Renaissance synopsis, comments

    The Space Opera Renaissance

    Kathryn Cramer & David G. Hartwell

    From "editor extraordinaire" (Publishers Weekly) David G. Hartwell and World Fantasy Awardwinning editor Kathryn Cramer comes the bestever anthology of one of science fiction's mos...

  • Pax Imperia synopsis, comments

    Pax Imperia

    Mike Smith

    Commander Jonathan Radec has finally obtained everything he ever wanted in life. However, in a cruel twist of fate, just as he reaches out for his most heartfelt desire, it is torn...

  • The Good Hand synopsis, comments

    The Good Hand

    Michael Patrick F. Smith

    “A book that should be read . . . Smith brings an alchemic talent to describing physical labor.” The New York Times Book Review“Beautiful, funny, and harrowing.” – Sarah Smars...

  • The American Crisis synopsis, comments

    The American Crisis

    Writers of The Atlantic

    Some of America’s best reporters and thinkers offer an urgent look at a country in chaos in this collection of timely, often prophetic articles from The Atlantic. The past four yea...

  • Prince synopsis, comments

    Prince

    Mick Wall

    This is the powerful, detailed and enlightening biography of the iconic composer, singer, songwriter and multiinstrumentalist the inimitable Prince.Prince was an icon. A man who d...

  • The Mammoth Book of Nightmare Stories synopsis, comments

    The Mammoth Book of Nightmare Stories

    Stephen Jones

    Winner of the British Fantasy AwardSixteen rare terror tales not to be read at night! To sleep, perchance to dream . . . of horrors! Here are some of the stories that gave their ow...

  • The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober synopsis, comments

    The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober

    Catherine Gray

    THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'Not remotely preachy' The Times 'Jaunty, shrewd and convincing' Sunday Telegraph 'Admirably honest, light, bubbly and remarkably rarely annoying.'...

  • Reading behind Bars synopsis, comments

    Reading behind Bars

    Jill Grunenwald

    “A fascinating look into a world many of us never see, and a powerful story about one woman’s journey to find her own strength, with a clear message of the importance of books and ...

  • Rivers synopsis, comments

    Rivers

    Michael Farris Smith

    For fans of Cormac McCarthy and Annie Proulx, “a wonderfully cinematic story” (The Washington Post) set in the postKatrina South after violent storms have decimated the region.It h...

  • Fit Men Cook synopsis, comments

    Fit Men Cook

    Kevin Curry

    The fitness influencer and creator of the #1 bestselling Food & Drink app, FitMenCook, shares 100 easy, quick meal prep recipes that will save you time, money, and inches on yo...

  • Wycliffe and the Three Toed Pussy synopsis, comments

    Wycliffe and the Three Toed Pussy

    W.J. Burley

    A case involving a dead woman with a deformed foot and a mysterious past requires all Superintendent Wycliffe's investigative skills.The peace of the village of Kergwyns in Cornwal...