Michael Stuhlbarg is an American actor who is best known for playing the organized crime boss Arnold Rothstein in the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire (2010-2013), a university professor Larry Gopnik in A Serious Man (2009), Griffin in Men in Black 3 (2012), Dr. Flicker in Blue Jasmine (2013), and Andy Hertzfeld in the biopic Steve Jobs (2015).

Early life
Born in California, Stuhlbarg is the son of Susan and Mort Stuhlbarg. He attended The Juilliard School in New York City during which he was a member of the Drama Division`s Group 21 (1988-1992). He graduated with a Bachelor in Fine Arts from Juilliard in 1992. He studied acting at the University of California, Los Angeles, Vilnius Conservatory in Lithuania, British American Drama Academy at Oxford, and the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain at the University of London.

Personal life
After dating for many years, Michael Stuhlbarg married Mai-Linh Lofgren in August 2013.

Movie Career
Michael Stuhlbarg entered the film industry in 1998 with the movie A Price Above Rubies directed by Boaz Yakin. The film was the story of a young woman who finds it hard to abide by the restrictions imposed on her by her community. His next release after three years was Tim Blake Nelson`s The Grey Zone, followed by a short film The Key to Reserva in 2007. The consecutive year, the actor had two releases Antonio Campos`s drama Afterschool and Ridley Scott`s action spy film Body of Lies. Stuhlbarg opened 2009 with director Sophie Barthes` Cold Souls in which he essayed the role of a Hedge Fund Consultant, but his breakthrough came with his award-winning performance in Joel & Ethan Coen`s dark comedy A Serious Man, in which he was seen as Larry Gopnik, a professor of physics in Minnesota. This black comedy-drama received positive reviews and the actor`s role won him The Independent Spirit Awards - Robert Altman Award, Santa Barbara International Film Festival - Virtuoso Award, Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and nominations for Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and London Film Critics Circle Award for Actor of the Year.

Stuhlbarg had one successful release in 2011, Hugo in which he essayed the role of Rene Tabard, a film expert. This followed with four releases in the next year - Men in Black 3, Seven Psychopaths, Lincoln, and Hitchcock, with the actor in different roles in all of these. In Men in Black 3, he played the character of an alien, whereas in Lincoln he essayed the role of a Democratic Congressman George Yeaman of Kentucky. Subsequent to this, his significant releases were Blue Jasmine as the dentist Dr. Flicker, Cut Bank as a taxidermist Derby Milton, Steve Jobs as a member of the original Mac team Andy Hertzfeld, and Trumbo as the protagonist Trumbo`s friend Edward G. Robinson. Stuhlbarg`s 2016 appearances include Denis Villeneuve`s science fiction Arrival as Agent Halpern, and Scott Derrickson`s superhero film Doctor Strange as Nicodemus West - a rival surgeon to Strange. His other 2016 release includes John Madden`s French-American political thriller Miss Sloane as Pat Connors.

Television career
Michael Stuhlbarg made his television debut in the 2006 drama series Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Marcel Costas in one episode. He simultaneously worked in another series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006-2007) as Jerry in two episodes. The actor then featured in four episodes of The American Experience as various characters. After his single episode appearances in Law & Order and Ugly Betty, the actor`s television breakthrough came with the period crime drama television series Boardwalk Empire (2010-2013), where he appeared in 32 episodes. He played the character of Arnold Rothstein, a powerful New York gangster, which not only gained him popularity among television audiences but also won him the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2010, 2011). Then in 2015, he was seen as Haim in one episode of the comedy web television series Transparent. At the 72nd Golden Globe Awards, the show won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy.

His other releases include Steve Jobs (2015), Arrival (2016), Doctor Strange (2016), The Shape of Water (2017), The Post (2017) and Shirley (2020).