{{Short description|American actor}} {{about||the American Olympic athlete|Mike Roche (runner)|similar names|Michael Roche (disambiguation){{!}}Michael Roche}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Mike Roche | image = Mike Roche.jpg | caption = | birth_date = September 23 | birth_place = Pascack Valley, New Jersey, U.S. | occupation = Actor | alma_mater = Ramapo College (BA) | spouse = {{marriage|Holly O'Brien|2016}} | website = {{URL|MikeRoche.net}} }}

'''Mike Roche''' (born September 23 in Pascack Valley, New Jersey) is an American actor of film, stage and television.

Roche played Humphrey James in the 2007 Off-Broadway<ref name="auto">{{cite web |first=Andrew |last=Gans |url=https://playbill.com/article/academy-award-winner-parsons-will-direct-taos-off-broadway-for-intar-com-142900 |title=Academy Award Winner Parsons Will Direct Taos Off-Broadway for INTAR |work=Playbill |date=August 9, 2007}}</ref> revival of ''Night Over Taos''<ref name="variety.com">{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2007/legit/reviews/night-over-taos-1200555785/|title=Night Over Taos|first=Mark|last=Blankenship|date=October 2, 2007}}</ref> by Maxwell Anderson, directed by Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aaspeechesdb.oscars.org/link/040-4/|title=Academy Awards Acceptance Speeches - Search Results &#124; Margaret Herrick Library &#124; Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences}}</ref> at the Theatre for the New City in New York City. The show was produced by INTAR Theatre (Eduardo Machado, Artistic Director).

==Early life and education== Roche was raised in Bergenfield, New Jersey, and is a graduate of Bergenfield High School.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature with a minor in political science from Ramapo College, located in Mahwah, New Jersey. He is an Eagle Scout and while at Ramapo College he played baseball<ref name=NYT2016>Shattuck, Kathryn (September 16, 2016). [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/fashion/weddings/two-actors-find-the-perfect-parts-in-love.html "Two Actors Find the Perfect Parts in Love"]. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved February 23, 2018. "He was also a baseball player at Ramapo College in New Jersey before working as a production assistant and an actor for Estelle Parsons and then winning a 2010 Drama Desk Award as a member of the Godlight Theater Company."</ref> and received the college's Dean's Award for "Exceptional Service to the Campus Community".

==Career== ===Stage work=== Roche played the role of Droog Pete in the 2004–2005 New York City theatrical production of the play ''A Clockwork Orange''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thetheatresource.com/reviews/a-clockwork-orange/ |title=A Clockwork Orange Theatre Review |work=TheTheatreSource |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204175405/http://www.thetheatresource.com/reviews/a-clockwork-orange/ |archive-date=4 February 2013}}</ref> by Anthony Burgess at the Ensemble Studio Theatre and 59E59 Theaters and played Faber<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.robertaonthearts.com/id628.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227220859/http://www.robertaonthearts.com/id628.html |archive-date=2019-12-27 |url-status=dead | title=Farenheit 451, The Play, Is Presented by Godlight Theatre Company|website=robertaonthearts.com}}</ref> in the 2006 New York City theatrical premiere of ''Fahrenheit 451''<ref>http://www.backstage.com/bso/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002234248 {{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes|work = Backstage }}</ref> by Ray Bradbury at 59E59 Theaters. The productions were both directed by Joe Tantalo <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.southernct.edu/alumni/southernmag/04fall/features/p13.html |title=The Company We Keep |accessdate=July 8, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20121212093628/http://www.southernct.edu/alumni/southernmag/04fall/features/p13.html |archivedate=December 12, 2012 }}</ref> and were produced by Tantalo's Drama Desk Award-winning Godlight Theatre Company.<ref name="Archived copy">{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/139731-Patti-LuPone-Hosts-Drama-Desk-Awards-May-23 |title=Patti LuPone Hosts Drama Desk Awards May 23 |accessdate=July 10, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312213115/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/139731-Patti-LuPone-Hosts-Drama-Desk-Awards-May-23 |archivedate=March 12, 2014 |date=May 23, 2010 |first=Andrew |last=Gans | work = Playbill}}</ref>

He performed in both ''A Clockwork Orange''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/9097/a-clockwork-orange |title=The Stage / Reviews / A Clockwork Orange |website=www.thestage.co.uk |access-date=2 February 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505062605/http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/9097/a-clockwork-orange |archive-date=5 May 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and ''Fahrenheit 451''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/100525-Mickey-Mouse-Is-Dead-Fahrenheit-451-Fargo-and-More-Play-NYCs-59E5 |title=''Mickey Mouse Is Dead'', ''Fahrenheit 451'', ''Fargo'' and More Play NYC's 59E59 Theaters Prior to Edinburgh |work=Playbill |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131173047/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/100525-Mickey-Mouse-Is-Dead-Fahrenheit-451-Fargo-and-More-Play-NYCs-59E59-Theaters-Prior-to-Edinburgh#selection-671.0-673.54 |archive-date=31 January 2013}}</ref> when they transferred from New York City to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland.

Roche played Humphrey James in the 2007 Off-Broadway<ref name="auto"/> revival of ''Night Over Taos''<ref name="variety.com"/> by Maxwell Anderson, directed by Estelle Parsons at the Theatre for the New City in New York City. The show was produced by INTAR Theatre (Eduardo Machado, artistic director).

He is a member of the 2010 Drama Desk Special Award–winning Godlight Theatre Company ("consistent originality and excellence in dramatizing modern literature, and especially for the vibrant theatricality of its innovative productions.").<ref name="Archived copy"/>

Roche played Father Flynn in the first New York revival of John Patrick Shanley's Tony Award–winning play ''Doubt: A Parable'' in October 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theateronline.com/reviewShow.xzc?PK=40716|title=Theater Online|website=theateronline.com}}</ref>

In 2020, he performed the role of Larry Slade in Eugene O'Neill's play ''The Iceman Cometh'' in the two-part Zoom premiere on YouTube Live as a benefit performance for the Actors Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/THE-ICEMAN-COMETH-A-2-Part-Zoom-Premiere-to-Stream-Next-Weekend-20200512| title = The Iceman Cometh, A 2-Part Zoom Premiere to Stream Next Weekend | publisher = BroadwayWorld}}</ref>

Roche performed the role of the Husband in Clark Kee's adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's play ''La Ronde'' (Reigen) entitled ''Round Dance''. The production was performed at the IRT Theatre in New York City in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rabinowitz |first=Chloe |title=Arthur Schnitzler's Round Dance Is Coming to IRT Theater |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-off-broadway/article/Arthur-Schnitzlers-ROUND-DANCE-is-Coming-to-IRT-Theater-20220126 |access-date=2023-09-15 |publisher = BroadwayWorld |language=en}}</ref>

He played the role of Judge Brack<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kliszus |first=Edward A. |date=2022-10-08 |title=Hedda Gabler |url=https://openingnight.online/hedda-gabler-at-the-theater-for-the-new-city/ |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=OpeningNight.Online |language=en-US}}</ref> in an updated version of Henrik Ibsen's play ''Hedda Gabler'', directed and adapted by Robert Greer, at the Theatre for the New City with the August Strindberg Repertory Theatre.

In 2023, Roche performed the role of Gustav in a new production of August Strindberg's play ''Creditors'' at the Theatre for the New City with the August Strindberg Repertory Theatre, directed and adapted by Robert Greer.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Whalen |first=Eva |date=2023-05-24 |title=Strindburg's "Creditors" at Theater for The New City |url=https://www.beautynewsnyc.com/city-pulse/strindburgs-creditors-at-theater-for-the-new-city/ |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=Beauty News NYC – The First Online Beauty Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

Roche played the role of the longshoreman Meathead in the American premiere of an adaptation of Arthur Miller's screenplay ''The Hook'', adapted by Ron Hutchinson and directed by Claire Beckman at the Waterfront Museum Barge in Red Hook, Brooklyn, with the Brave New World Repertory Theatre in 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Adams |first=Rose |date=2023-06-09 |title=7 Decades Later, Arthur Miller's 'The Hook' Comes Home to Brooklyn |language=en-US |work= The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/09/theater/the-hook-waterfront-museum.html |access-date=2023-09-15 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Personal life== Roche married actress and singer Holly O'Brien on August 28, 2016, in New York City.<ref name=NYT2016/>

He is a black belt in taekwondo.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wtmu.org/copy-of-dan-processing-1 |title=Kukkiwon America |publisher=World Taekwondo Masters Union |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609110141/https://www.wtmu.org/copy-of-dan-processing-1 |archive-date=June 9, 2023}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=June 2025}} and a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Marcelo Garcia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://marcelogarciajj.com/mgjj/ |title=Marcelo Garcia Jiu-Jitsu}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=June 2025}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Roche, Mike}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:20th-century births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American male actors Category:20th-century people from New Jersey Category:20th-century people from New York (state) Category:21st-century American male actors Category:21st-century people from New Jersey Category:21st-century people from New York (state) Category:Male actors from Bergen County, New Jersey Category:American expatriates in Scotland Category:American male film actors Category:American male stage actors Category:American male television actors Category:Bergenfield High School alumni Category:Edinburgh Festival Fringe Category:Male actors from Manhattan Category:Off-Broadway Category:People from Bergenfield, New Jersey Category:Ramapo College alumni