Robert Michael Nesmith (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, and novelist. He was best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series The Monkees (1966–1968). His songwriting credits include "Different Drum", which became a hit for Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys. After the break-up of the Monkees, Nesmith continued his successful songwriting and performing career, first with the seminal country rock group the First National Band, with whom he had a top-40 hit, "Joanne", and then as a solo artist. He often played a custom-built Gretsch 12-string electric with the Monkees and afterwards. Nesmith founded Pacific Arts, a multimedia production and distribution company, in 1974, through which he helped pioneer the music video format. He created one of the first American television programs dedicated to music videos, PopClips, which aired on Nickelodeon in 1980. He was asked to help produce and create MTV, but had prior commitments with his production company. In 1981, he won the first Grammy Award for Video of the Year for his hour-long television show, Elephant Parts. He was also an executive producer of the film Repo Man (1984). Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Nesmith, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- December 30, 1942
- December 10, 2021 (aged 78)
- Houston, Texas, USA
- Actor, writer, producer, director and composer
- 9 on MovieCove · 24 credits in all
What are Michael Nesmith's films like?
Across their 8 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Ideas.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
A split, not a type: Ironic 3 · Wry 0 · Earnest 3
Light 5 · Serious 1 · Dark 0
Grounded 2 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 2
Gentle 2 · Charged 3 · Intense 1
Steady 2 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 2
Straight-faced 1 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 2
A split, not a type: Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 3
A split, not a type: Casual 3 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 5 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 0
Resolved 4 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 2
Roles they play
- Heroas Mike in The Monkees (1965)
- Heroas Mike in Head (1968)
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet4
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous2
- Cyclical1
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 Nesmith's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 5 of their 9 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Michael Nesmith'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
24 credits, 9 with a MovieCove page; 10 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Boyce & Hart: The Guys Who Wrote 'Em (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Making The Monkees (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Hey, Hey, It's the Monkees (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)
E! True Hollywood Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
Michael Nesmith: Austin City Limits (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1992)
Michael Nesmith Live at the Britt Festival (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1992)
Tapeheads(1988)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
Burglar(1987)
Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films
Square Dance(1987)
Midcredits score: 28th percentile of all films
Barbecue Death Squad From Hell (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1986)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
Dr. Duck's Super Secret All-Purpose Sauce (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1985)
Television Parts Home Companion (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1985)
Television Parts (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1985)
Repo Man(1984)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 25th percentile of all films
Playboy Video Magazine, Volume 1 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1982)
Elephant Parts (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1981)
An Evening with Sir William Martin (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1981)
The Northville Cemetery Massacre (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1976)
Saturday Night Live(1975)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all shows
Head(1968)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
The Monkees(1965)
Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all showsPopClips (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 70th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 24 titles, 23 of them dated from 1966 to 2015; peak year 1968.
Biggest box office
Square Dance (1987)
Highest rated
Laurel Canyon (2020)
Most popular right now
The Monkees (1965)
Film career
Peak 1968 · fewer prominent film roles lately. 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.
- 1966Screen debut· The Monkees
- 1968First film· Head
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 Nesmith's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 39th percentile, the median of all 7; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 71st percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
4 of their 9 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Divisive1
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Mixed4
Reviewers score the acting 73/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles; fans 79, detractors 54. 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 Nesmith work with?
People who share at least 2 of Michael Nesmith's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Micky Dolenz shares the most, 3.
Directors
- William DearShared titles: Doctor Duck's Super Secret All-Purpose Sauce (1986), Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (1982)See all 2 shared titles with William Dear
Actors
- Micky DolenzShared titles: Laurel Canyon (2020), Head (1968), The Monkees (1965)See all 3 shared titles with Micky Dolenz
- Peter TorkShared titles: Laurel Canyon (2020), Head (1968), The Monkees (1965)See all 3 shared titles with Peter Tork
- Tracey WalterShared titles: Repo Man (1984), Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (1982)See all 2 shared titles with Tracey Walter
- Davy JonesShared titles: Head (1968), The Monkees (1965)See all 2 shared titles with Davy Jones
Producers
- Cyrus YavnehShared titles: Square Dance (1987), Doctor Duck's Super Secret All-Purpose Sauce (1986)See all 2 shared titles with Cyrus Yavneh
