Printable Biography of Michael Vartan

Vartan was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France, the son of Doris (née Pucher), a painter and artist, and Eddie Vartan, a musician.[2][3] His paternal aunt is singer Sylvie Vartan and his stepfather is writer Ian La Frenais.[4] Vartan's father was Bulgarian-born and of part Armenian and Hungarian descent[5] and Vartan's mother is an American Jew originally from Poland;[6][7][8][9] Vartan has said about his French background that “The funny thing is I’m actually a Polish Jew who happens to be born in France. My mom is Polish and my dad is Bulgarian. I don’t have an ounce of French blood. But I work it.”[10][6] He has stated that he tends to be considered a Frenchman in the United States and an American in France.[1] His parents divorced when he was five and he moved to America with his mother.[11] He moved back to France to be with his father until his high school years, and grew up a "farm kid" in a "simple environment"[9] in Fleury, a small town in Normandy.[12][11] At the age of eighteen, Vartan moved back in with his mother in Los Angeles, telling her that he wanted to be an artist,[13] because he did not wish to fulfill the mandatory military service required in France.[9] In Los Angeles, he attended an acting school after he was told he possessed acting talent. Vartan now considers himself to be American and stated on the talk show "Rove" that he would like Australia to be his second home.[14] He is completely bilingual in English and French.

After many minor film roles, Vartan had noticeable supporting roles in major movies, including Never Been Kissed (1999), One Hour Photo (2002) and Monster-in-Law (2005).[14] In 2007, he appeared in the Australian horror film Rogue and will next star in the film Jolene.

Vartan's most notable role to date has been as Michael Vaughn in the American television series Alias (2001–2006). After appearing as a regular cast member through the first four seasons of the series, Vartan returned as a guest star in a limited number of episodes. He appeared as Vaughn in Sydney Bristow's dream in one episode, and beginning with the episode broadcast on April 19, 2006, he appeared in all remaining episodes. Vartan has also had guest appearances on Friends (as Dr. Tim Burke, Tom Selleck's character's son), Ally McBeal (as Jonathan Basset), and also Kitchen Confidential (as a rival French chef) starring his former Alias co-star Bradley Cooper. As of September 2007, Vartan is starring in the new ABC drama, Big Shots, as James Walker.