Michael Cornelison
Actor · Born May 5, 1952 (74) · Atlantic, Iowa, USA
Michael Cornelison began his professional career as an actor in 1967, at the age of fifteen, appearing in a series of educational shorts for Coronet Films. In 1974, Michael co-starred with Cliff Robertson and Robert Preston in the ABC-TV movie, My Father's House (1975). In 1978, Cornelison returned to Los Angeles for an extended run. He completed pilots for three television series: Nightside (1980), "Inspector Perez" and Family in Blue (1982). He also guest-starred on many series in the mid-eighties, including Hill Street Blues (1981), Remington Steele (1982), Dallas (1978), Knots Landing (1979) and The Greatest American Hero (1981), among others. Michael also starred in and co-produced Stephen King's The Woman in the Room (1984), the first collaboration between Stephen King and Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Green Mile (1999)). In 1984, he was lured back to the Midwest by the prospect of being artistic director of his own theatre, "The Two Rivers Acting Company". In the ensuing two decades, Michael has appeared in a wide variety of plays, including classics such as "A Man For All Seasons", "Inherit The Wind", "Of Mice And Men" and "To Kill A Mockingbird" and contemporary works like "Camping With Henry And Tom", "Sideman", "The Guys" and "The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare" (Abridged). He also served as artistic director of "Rejection Slip Theatre", a radio comedy/drama anthology which ran on WHO radio for over ten years. In addition, Cornelison has done a great deal of work, in partnership with writer/director Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition (2002)), having appeared in no less than five films for Collins, Mommy (1995), Mommy II: Mommy's Day (1997), Real Time: Siege at Lucas Street Market (2001), Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life (2005) and "Three Women". Cornelison also narrated Collin's award-winning documentary, "Mike Hammer's Mickey Spillane". Other film work included an appearance in Rain (2001), produced by Martin Scorsese. He has recently recorded "A Little Death", a Mike Hammer adventure audio novel, starring Stacy Keach as Hammer, and will play "Captain Pat Chambers" in a second Hammer story, "Encore for Murder". Both written by Max Allan Collins and based on original material by the late Mickey Spillane. He makes his home in Iowa with his wife, Cindi, and his son, Nick Cornelison.
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Biography from IMDb.
- May 5, 1952 (74)
- Atlantic, Iowa, USA
- Actor
- 9 on MovieCove · 18 credits in all
What are Michael Cornelison's films like?
Across a limited sample of 4 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Survival.
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 1 · Wry 1 · Earnest 2
A split, not a type: Light 1 · Serious 1 · Dark 2
Grounded 3 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0
Gentle 0 · Charged 2 · Intense 2
Steady 1 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0
Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 0
Casual 0 · Engaged 4 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 0 · Affecting 3 · Heavy 1
A split, not a type: Resolved 2 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Michael Cornelison's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 8 of their 9 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (4).
Subscription and free streaming for Michael Cornelison's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
18 credits, 9 with a MovieCove page.
Collapse (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)
Husk(2011)
Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films
Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Real Time: Siege at Lucas Street Market (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
Mommy's Day(1997)
Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all films
Mommy(1995)
Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all films
Nightshift Collection (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1994)
Life Flight: The Movie (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1987)
Lost in America(1985)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
Hunter(1984)
Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all shows
The Woman in the Room (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1983)
Inspector Perez (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1983)
Superstition(1982)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
Hotel (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1982)
Nightside (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1980)
Knots Landing(1979)
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all shows
My Father's House(1975)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Cold Turkey(1971)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films
Career shape
Star power in the 65th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 18 titles from 1971 to 2012; peak year 2011.
Film career
Peak 2011 · steadily prominent in film for years. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 1982Screen debut· Superstition
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Michael Cornelison's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 39th percentile, the median of all 7; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 22nd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 50th to 74th1
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th3
Shape of the crowd
5 of their 9 titles are Mixed.
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Mixed5
Reviewers score the acting 59/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles; fans 72, detractors 33. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Michael Cornelison work with?
People who share at least 2 of Michael Cornelison's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Max Allan Collins shares the most, 2.
Directors
- Max Allan CollinsShared titles: Mommy's Day (1997), Mommy (1995)See all 2 shared titles with Max Allan Collins
Actors
- Brinke StevensShared titles: Mommy's Day (1997), Mommy (1995)See all 2 shared titles with Brinke Stevens
- Mickey SpillaneShared titles: Mommy's Day (1997), Mommy (1995)See all 2 shared titles with Mickey Spillane
- Patty McCormackShared titles: Mommy's Day (1997), Mommy (1995)See all 2 shared titles with Patty McCormack
- Rachel LemieuxShared titles: Mommy's Day (1997), Mommy (1995)See all 2 shared titles with Rachel Lemieux
Composers and cinematographers
- Phillip W. DingeldeinShared titles: Mommy's Day (1997), Mommy (1995)See all 2 shared titles with Phillip W. Dingeldein
- Richard LowryShared titles: Mommy's Day (1997), Mommy (1995)See all 2 shared titles with Richard Lowry
