Michael Damian

Career

Michael Damian’s brother is musician Larry Weir. Damian got his start in music playing with his family’s band, The Weirz, which put out two self-titled albums, one in 1975 and another in 1979. In 1981, he appeared on American Bandstand to promote his first single, a cover of Eric Carmen’s “She Did It,” and that led to a role as Danny Romalotti, a struggling singer, on the daytime soap The Young and the Restless. He also played Flyman, the love interest of Jo Polniaczek (Nancy McKeon), in three episodes of The Facts of Life—two in 1985 (Season 6, episodes 19 and 20) and one in 1986 (Season 7, episode 19). Damian sang the theme song for Saved by the Bell.

After twelve years on The Young and the Restless, he took the lead role in the Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. With Damian as Joseph, the show broke a single-day box-office record and set a historical high for weekly grosses by a Broadway revival at the Minskoff Theatre. It ran for 231 performances there from November 10, 1993, to May 29, 1994, and the cast album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Musical Show Album category.

Damian has released five albums, scoring three top 40 hits. His cover of David Essex’s “Rock On,” from the Dream a Little Dream soundtrack, hit number one and went gold in 1989. He also won a BMI Songwriting Award for his single “Was It Nothing at All.” He made his feature film directorial debut with the indie comedy Hot Tamale, which he co-wrote with his wife Janeen, the daughter of actor James Best. He then directed a string of family films: Moondance Alexander, Flicka 2, Marley & Me: The Puppy Years, Flicka: Country Pride, and A Princess for Christmas. In 2012, he directed and co-wrote the 90-minute romantic comedy The Sweeter Side of Life, again with Janeen; it co-starred his father-in-law James Best in his final film role. The movie premiered on the Hallmark Channel on January 19, 2013.