Michael J. Anderson

Michael J. Anderson
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1983-present

Michael J. Anderson (October 31, 1953) is an American actor known for his role as the Man from another place in David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks, notable for being a 'little person'.

Anderson was born with a genetic bone condition osteogenesis imperfecta. He grew up in a wheelchair In his late 20s he was the subject of a 30-minute documentary called "Little Mike" (1984), directed by Norris J. Chumley, which began as an NYU student film production. He formed the New York band, Wayward Gene and the Natural Selection, which played in local clubs. He also worked for NASA as a computer expert.

Anderson appeared in but a few episodes of Twin Peaks. The Man From Another Place is attired in a red suit and speaks in an unusual manner. He first appears in Special Agent Dale Cooper's cryptic dream about the murder of Laura Palmer, set in a red room. Anderson's Man also materializes in Lynch's film prequel to Twin Peaks, Fire Walk With Me. His character expresses more malevolent intent in the film than he did in the series.

Anderson portrayed a full-size man in Lynch's Mulholland Drive, using a prosthetic body. From 2003 to 2005, Anderson played carnival manager Samson Leonhart on the HBO series Carnivàle.

Among his other appearances are in the soap opera Port Charles, guest appearances like: "Peter Dreeb" in the Picket Fences episode "Mr. Dreeb Comes to Town", a hotel manager in the The X-Files episode "Humbug", Rumpelstiltskin in the "If Wishes Were Horses" episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and as a returning leprechaun in the eighth season of the supernatural dramedy series Charmed.

Anderson used phonetically reversed speaking as a secret language with his junior high school friends and then coincidentally played a character in Twin Peaks where he used the same method of speaking.

Television appearances

Anderson at CarneyCon, 2006

• Twin Peaks (1990-1991) as The Man From Another Place in 4 episodes
• Fools Fire (1992) as Hopfrog
• Picket Fences (1992) as Peeter Dreeb in the episode 'Mr Dreeb comes to Town
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) "If Wishes were Horses"
• Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine (1994) as bartender #1
• The X-Files (1995) as Mr. Nutt in the episode "Humbug"
• The Phantom Eye (1999) as Doll Man/Carl
• Port Charles (1999) as Peter Zorin
• Black Scorpion (2001) in episode 'Crime Time'
• Snow White (2001) as Sunday (Violet)
• Carnivàle (2005) as Samson in 22 episodes
• Charmed (2006) as O'Brian the Leprechaun in 2 episodes

Filmography

• Buddies (1983)
• The Great Land of Small (1987) as Fritz/The King
• Suffering Bastards (1989) as Little Elvis
• No such thing as Gravity (1989) as the botanist
• Whatever Happened to Mason Reese (1990) as Sushi chef
• Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted (1990) as lightman
• Mannequin: On the Move (1991) as Jewel box bearer
• Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) as The Man From Another Place
• Night Trap (1993) as police officer
• Caged Hearts (1995) as John
• Murder too Sweet (1994) as Harry the Huckster
• Street Gun (1996) as Lamar
• Maggie (1998) in the episode Ka-boom
• Club Vampire (1998) as Kiddo
• Minimum Wage (1999) as Zeke Bleak
• Warriors of Virtue (1997) as Mudlap, film, and surrounding merchandise)
• Mulholland Drive (2001) as Mr Roque
• Sticky Fingers (2003) as Irate Man
• Tiptoes (2003) as Bruno
• Big Time (2004) as Henri Blunderbore

External links

• Michael J. Anderson at IMDb
• Michael J. Anderson at Memory Alpha