This underappreciated actor first made a strong impression with moviegoers as the sleazy sex club manager where one of the more creative murders (masterminded by Kevin Spacey) occurred in the movie Se7en.

It was under Michael Massee’s sleazy watch that Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman were given another gruesome yet clever form of human dismemberment to decipher.

Massee stepped it up a notch when he became the first major villain in the television series 24, executing a plot to manipulate Kiefer Sutherland and kill his family.

Michael Massee was the first in a long line of superior actors who would play villains opposite Sutherland, among them Dennis Hopper, James Cromwell, Paul McCrane, Henri Lubatti, Jeff Wincott, Tobin Bell, Arnold Vosloo, Powers Boothe, Tony Todd, Peter Weller, Francesco Quinn, Kurtwood Smith, Harris Yulin and Jon Voight.

But it was Massee’s masterful portrayal of Ira Gaines that started the television phenomenon, and he even achieved the difficult task of adding human moments to an otherwise cold and heartless villain before it was all said and done.

Massee has appeared as a guest star on numerous other notable television shows, including Alias, Carnivale, The X-Files, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, The Practice and Millennium. His big screen credits includes films such as Amistad and The Game.

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