Michael was born "Michael Joseph Charles Greyeyes", on June 4 1967, in Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada, to the Plains Cree Nation. His father is from the Muskeg Lake First Nation and his mother is from the Sweetgrass First Nation of Saskatchewan.
 
 
 

At 10 years of age Michael was accepted into the Canadian National Ballet School in Toronto, where he spent the next 10 years. He danced for two years with the National Ballet of Canada (NBOC) as a Corp de Ballet member, and then three years with the Feld Ballet in New York as a principal dancer.
 
 
 

Later Michael also explored the modern form of traditional dancing, Powwow. His journey of exploration was documented in a feature entitled "He Who Dreams: Michael on the Powwow Trail" for CBC by Adrienne Clarkson.
 
 
 

Michael’s acting career started in 1993 when he was cast as "Juh" in TNT’s "Geronimo", which led to numerous television appearances, including guest spots in "Promised Land", "Walker, Texas Ranger", "Dr Quinn Medicine Woman", "Magnificent Seven", "Millennium", and he co-hosted the 1999 Aboriginal Achievement Awards. In 1997 he won the title role in TNT’s "Crazy Horse", and in 1998 starred in "Stolen Women, Captured Hearts", with Janine Turner and Patrick Bergen. He featured in the mini-series "Rough Riders", "Big Bear', and "True Woman". Films in which Michael has appeared are : "Dance Me Outside",. "Smoke Signals", "The Minion" (also released as "Fallen Knight'), "Firestorm', "League of Old Men', and more recently, 'Skipped Parts", "Looking for Lost Bird", and 'Race Against Time". He worked on a film with Linda Fiorentino and Ben Kingsley "Till the End of Time", which has been put on hiatus.