Bio
Paul Sparks is an American actor best known for his starring role as Mickey Doyle on the television drama series Boardwalk Empire.
Sparks was born in Oklahoma and studied chemical engineering at Oklahoma State University before graduating with a BFA in acting and a minor in philosophy from New York University.
Sparks is a seasoned stage actor, having been nominated for four Drama Desk Awards and appearing in the 2003 Broadway production of Take Me Out.
Sparks earned his first Drama Desk nomination as Best Actor for the play Coyote on a Fence in 2000, and went on to earn nominations in 2004 for originating the role of Baylis in Adam Rapp's Blackbird, in 2005 for an appearance in Craig Wright's Orange Water Flower and in 2007 for Rapp's Essential Self-Defense.
His performance in the 2004 off-Broadway production of Rapp's Finer Noble Gases was called "mesmerizing" by the New York Times, and he went on to perform the play in 2006 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where he won The Stage Award for Acting Excellence.
His other stage credits include American Sligo, Pumpgirl, Craig Wright's Lady and Dusk Rings a Bell, with Kate Walsh. Sparks also appeared on Broadway opposite Mary Louise Parker in Hedda Gabler.
His TV credits include Law & Order, Brotherhood and Trinity. Sparks' film appearances include Edge of Darkness, Synecdoche, New York, The Missing Person and Please Give, directed by Nicole Holofcener.
He can also be seen in the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce.
Sparks lives in New York with actress Annie Parisse.