Artist Michael Warren is Nominated for a LABA Icon Award
Updated: Mar 6
Michael Warren
Beverly Hills, California, USA. 24th August, 2023. Artist Michael Warren was born in South Bend, Indiana on March 5th, the youngest of three children. He graduated from South Bend Central High School where he was in the National Honor Society, and the Senior Class President. Warren earned a scholarship to UCLA in 1964 and played three years on varsity basketball for legendary coach John Wooden. He was an All American academically and athletically, and played alongside two other tremendous college All Americans, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, aka Lew Alcindor, and Lucius Allen. He is the only player Coach Wooden named to captain on two successive NCAA National Championship teams, (1967 and 1968). Coach Wooden said, “Mike Warren is the smartest player I ever coached.”
Warren transitioned from basketball to entertainment first as a series regular in TV shows “Sierra,” “The White Shadow,” and most notably “Hill Street Blues,” winning a NAACP Image Award and Emmy® nomination for his portrayal of Officer Bobby Hill. He also co-starred in the films "Norman Is That You?" starring Redd Foxx, and "Fastbreak" starring Gabe Kaplan, before fulfilling his dream of becoming a producer with the television pilot, “Home Free.”
Warren’s love for photography led him to taking professional headshots and filming concerts. The latter earning him a photographic credit in the Los Angeles Times for an image of The Jackson Five. In 2015, Michael heard a voice inside of him that said, 'Look up' where he began noticing the most incredible cloud formations. He became a cloud chaser, driving all over the city looking for the best vantage points to shoot clouds. His favorite artistic tool is the Apple Pen which allows him to experiment with colors and shapes that influence his unique style. His inspiration comes from that inner voice he calls God, who whispers poetic thoughts to his photographic creations.
The Beverly Arts is sponsored by The Beverly Arts Foundation