Sean Michaels (actor)

Sean Michaels (born February 20, 1958) is an American pornographic actor, model, director and former trade union leader. In 2002, AVN ranked him 14th on their list of The Top 50 Porn Stars of All Time. Michaels has won several prominent adult industry awards, inluding the NightMoves Award for Best Actor. He has also been inducted into the AVN, NightMoves, Urban X, and XRCO Halls of Fame.

Early life
Michaels was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Boys and Girls High School, the oldest public high school in Brooklyn. After moving to the West Coast, he worked as a nurse for an urgent care facility in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. He also did runway and print modeling prior to entering the porn industry.

Career
Michaels started out working in the adult entertainment industry as a model for skin magazines. Dissatisfied with the portrayal of black men in pornography, which he saw as "very demeaning and stereotypical", Michaels began performing in adult films in 1989. Michaels chose his stage name by combining the first names of two male celebrities he admired: Sean Connery, whom he described as a "man's man, on and off camera", and Michael Jordan.

Michaels gained recognition in the industry after appearing in his mentor John Leslie's 1990 film Oh What A Night. Micheals received the XBIZ Award for Woodsman of the Year in 1994. The following year, he was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame. In 1996, he started his own film studio, Sean Michaels Productions, which was later changed to Sean Michaels International the following year when Anabolic Video began handling its distribution.

Along with Lisa Ann and Nikki Benz, Michaels hosted the XRCO Awards in April 2010. In 2018, he performed in his first bisexual scene for Kick Ass Pictures. In regards to the scene, Michaels commented, "I feel strongly about doing the things you want to do in life. Cuckold fans have been asking me for years to do bi scenes, and I'm happy to be making this move. I believe it's important for people to grow sexually in any way they choose."

Legal dispute
In 2003, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) issued Michaels a cease and desist letter, asking him to stop using his name due to the similarity it had to wrestler Shawn Michaels. Michaels name was already registered as a trademark, while Shawn Michaels had not registered his moniker. Michaels announced he planned to countersue the WWE. As of April 1, 2011, the trademark of "Sean Michaels" is no longer active.

Advocacy and impact
In 2016, Michaels was elected President of the Adult Performance Artists Guild, then the Adult Performers Actors Guild (APAG). As President, he announced the APAG would push to raise the legal age to perform in adult films from 18 to 21, commenting that "it's 21 years old to drink, so you should have to be 21 to do porn." Amidst criticism from APAG members who saw him as reducing his union participation, Michaels officially resigned from his role. He was replaced in the role by actress Alana Evans, who served as vice president under him. Evans revealed that Michaels was being "blackballed" in the pornographic industry due to his guild participation.

In the May 1997 issue of Vibe, he was labeled "the preeminent force in interracial erotic entertainment." In her book A Taste for Brown Sugar: Black Women in Pornography, women's studies scholar Mireille Miller-Young notes how Michaels' portrayal of "suave and professional" characters in his films has challenged the stereotyping of black men as "sexual beasts" in pornography and expanded opportunities for black performers. Violet Blue shares a similar sentiment in The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos, calling Michaels a "major force in changing the face and attitudes of the adult industry towards black performers." Blue concluded by dubbing him "the most famous black man to ever appear in porn."