Michael T. Weiss was born in Chicago, Illinois to a steel industry executive father and a homemaker mother. He has an older sister, Jamie Sue Weiss, who is a make-up artist. As a child, he appeared in local TV commercials in Chicago. He graduated from University of Southern California and attended Second City Workshops in Chicago. Early in his career, he also worked as a personal trainer.
His television credits are numerous. In mid 1980s, his first credited TV-role was on Des jours et des vies (1965). He also played a dual role on Dan Curtis' La malédiction de Collinwood (1991), a revival of the original series. He is well known for his portrayal of Jarod on the NBC hit Le caméléon (1996), playing 80 different characters. He also guest starred as Jarod on Profiler (1996) and played him on two TV movies. He guest starred as Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh's (series lead Jill Hennessy) brother, James Horton, on four episodes of Preuve à l'appui (2001). He has also been busy doing voice-over work. He voiced Tarzan in 39 episodes of La légende Tarzan (2001) , Nizam Toth on La momie (2001), Etrigan the Demon/Jason Blood on Justice League (2001), Adam Strange on Batman: L'Alliance des héros (2008), and Nathaniel Adams/Captain Atom on 7 episodes of Young Justice (2010). In 2011, he portrayed a corrupt cop on CBS' Blue Bloods (2010) and another one on Burn Notice (2007).
His feature film credits include: Hurlements IV (1988); Jeffrey (1995), based on Paul Rudnick's off-Broadway hit play of the same name, alongside Patrick Stewart, Steven Weber, Sigourney Weaver, Olympia Dukakis, and Nathan Lane; Oliver Stone produced cult hit film Freeway (1996) opposite Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, and Amanda Plummer, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival; New Line feature film Bones (2001), with Pam Grier and Snoop Dogg; and the independent films Net Worth (2001), Until the Night (2004), Marmalade (2004), and Iowa (2005) for which he received The Best Actor award at the Midwest Film Festival, and it was featured at the Tribeca Film Festival. His latest films include: Fade (2007), Sex and the City 2 (2010), and Sunset Park (2016).
Besides acting on TV and on movies, he has done a lot of stage work. In 2007, he received a Drama Desk Nomination for his work at The Atlantic Theater Company's "Scarcity" by Lucy Thurber. In 2008, he appeared in "Of Equal Measure" by Tanya Barfield for the Center Theater Group in Los Angeles. In 2009, he appeared on Broadway with Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons in the new play "Impressionism" directed by Jack O'Brien. In 2010, he starred in The Pulitzer Prize finalist, "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity." In 2011, he played John Hudson in A Perfect Future, by David Hay. He spent two seasons with The Huntington Theater Company in Boston playing Pale in Lanford Wilson's "Burn This" (in 2014) and Valmont in "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" (in 2006).
Weiss is also an artist shown in Los Angeles as well as a playwright. In 1992, "Streams of Consciousness", a play written and directed by him, was produced at The Met Theater in Los Angeles. He also directed "In Progress" (Matrix Theater) and "A Brush With Fate" (West Coast Ensemble). As an environmental activist, Weiss served on the board of directors for the Earth Communications Office. Weiss resides in Los Angeles and New York.
