Michael Rosenbaum (born July 11, 1972)^[1][2] is an American actor and podcaster. He is known for portraying Lex Luthor on the television series Smallville, a role that TV Guide included in their 2013 list of "The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time".^[3]

Rosenbaum is also known for portraying Martinex in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Parker in Urban Legend, Adam/Adina in Sorority Boys and Dutch Nilbog on Fox's Breaking In. He also has an extensive voiceover career in animation, such as his role of Wally West / The Flash in the DC Animated Universe series Justice League (2001–2004) and its sequel Justice League Unlimited (2004–2006). Between 2015 and 2016, he played the lead role in the TV Land comedy series Impastor.

He is also the lead singer of the band Sun Spin with his friend Rob Danson. The band's first album, Best Days was released on February 9, 2021.^[4]

Rosenbaum was born in Oceanside, New York and raised in Newburgh, Indiana.^[5] His mother, Julie (née Eckstein), is a writer and his father, Mark Rosenbaum, worked in pharmaceuticals.^[6] He is one of six children with two brothers, and a sister. After his parents' divorce, his mother remarried sports reporter Gordon Engelhardt, and his father remarried Alexis Pelegrino, with whom he had two daughters, Rosenbaum's half-sisters. His uncle is pet behaviorist Warren Eckstein.^[7] Rosenbaum is Jewish, and says he was "closer to religion" in New York than in Indiana.^[8]

Rosenbaum graduated from Castle High School in Newburgh, Indiana and from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky with a degree in theatre arts. Immediately after, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.^[9]

In 2001, Rosenbaum received a Saturn Award for his portrayal of Lex Luthor on Smallville.^[10] Continuing in the superhero genre, he played Wally West (a.k.a. the Flash) in the DC Comics animated series Justice League, Static Shock, and Justice League Unlimited, as well as portraying a younger version of Wally West as Kid Flash in Teen Titans. In the third season Justice League Unlimited episode "The Great Brain Robbery", Rosenbaum reprised his role as Lex Luthor when Wally and Lex Luthor temporarily switched bodies. In February 2008, Rosenbaum confirmed that he would be leaving Smallville after the seventh season. After many months of speculation and him first turning down the contract to return, it was announced on February 11, 2011 that Rosenbaum would return to Smallville for the two-hour series finale, which aired on May 13, 2011,^[11] with Rosenbaum reprising his role as Lex Luthor.^[12]

In 2012, Rosenbaum appeared in Hit and Run, which starred Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell.^[13] Rosenbaum portrayed the character Gil, a jealous ex-boyfriend from Annie's (Bell's character) past.^[14]

Rosenbaum provided the voice work for Ghoul and Deadshot in the animated DCAU film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Rosenbaum filmed the original SyFy comedy series Saved By Zeroes; yet was never picked up.^[15][16] He recurred in Fox's original sitcom Breaking In; the show was cancelled initially after the first season but got a second chance, and Rosenbaum was promoted to series regular. The series was cancelled again after a few episodes of the second season.^[17][18]

In 2014, Rosenbaum made his feature-film directorial and writing debut with the comedy Back in the Day, starring as an actor who returns to his hometown in Indiana for a class reunion. The film was filmed in Newburgh and Evansville, Indiana.^[19][20] Prior to the production of Back in the Day, Rosenbaum planned to direct another comedy film, titled Sorry is For Sissies. The film had a cast including Jon Heder, Colin Hanks and Jennifer Love Hewitt; however, at least half of the film's budget was lost, and the film was scrapped.^[21]

On June 17, 2014, Rosenbaum was cast as the lead in the TV Land original sitcom Impastor. The plot has been summarised as a "low-life who hides out in a small town by conning the residents into thinking he is their newly hired gay pastor".^[22]

In 2017, Rosenbaum served as narrator for the reality television show Hunted which pitted investigators against teams of ordinary citizens trying to evade capture as fugitives.^[23] Rosenbaum also starred in the Indie thriller The Neighbor opposite William Fichtner.^[24]

In 2018, Rosenbaum debuted his casual celebrity interview-based podcast called Inside of You.^[25] His first guest was his Smallville co-star Tom Welling.^[26] The two subsequently launched the podcast Talkville in July 2022, where they re-watch every episode of Smallville.^[27][28]

Rosenbaum confirmed reprised the role of Martinex in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which premiered in May 2023.^[29]

On January 6, 2023, Rosenbaum's band Sun Spin released their second album, Never Is What it Is.

In October 2023 Los Angeles Daily News reported that Rosenbaum and his longtime friend Jon Heder would star in the horror-themed reality television series Scared with Michael Rosenbaum and Jon Heder. Rosenbaum said of the project, "I wanted to do a reality show because we love horror movies. We'll go to the scariest places on Earth."^[25]