Michael Ensign

Born in the western United States but raised with an English pedigree, training with some of the best stage actors in Britain, Michael Ensign has carved out a career as a stage and supporting screen actor, with brief-but-crucial roles in Hollywood classics from "Midnight Express" to "Titanic." Trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Ensign went on to a decade on the British stage, most notably with the Royal Shakespeare Company. After this he began to work in Hollywood, with an early role as Stanley Daniels in Alan Parker's Turkish prison drama, "Midnight Express." Dozens of brief appearances on TV and in film followed in the 1980s, with memorable turns as the hotel manager in Ivan Reitman's decade-defining comedy, "Ghost Busters," and brief roles on prime-time hits including "MacGyver" and the legal drama "Matlock"; in fact, it seemed as if Ensign's portrayal of dapper professional men could be seen on every memorable show from that era. In 1997 he played his best-known role, that of American businessman Benjamin Guggenheim in James Cameron's disaster blockbuster, "Titanic." Since then, Ensign has carried on with his character work, memorably in Gary Ross's Depression-era racehorse drama, "Seabiscuit." In 2004, Ensign took a rare recurring role, as Judge Paul Resnick on the hit show "Boston Legal."