American actor (born 1971)Not to be confused with Paul Sparkes.

Paul W. Sparks (born October 16, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as gangster Mickey Doyle in the HBO period drama series Boardwalk Empire, writer Thomas Yates in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards, attorney David Tellis in the Starz anthology drama series The Girlfriend Experience, and a recurring role in the limited series The Night Of. Sparks has also starred in the films Deception (2008), Afterschool (2008), The Missing Person (2008), Mud (2012), Parkland (2013), Stealing Cars (2015), Thoroughbreds (2017), and The Greatest Showman (2017).

Contents

• 1 Early life and career
• 2 Personal life
• 3 Filmography
  • 3.1 Film
  • 3.2 Television
• 4 Stage
• 5 Awards and nominations
• 6 References
• 7 External links

Early life and career

Sparks was born and raised in Marlow, Oklahoma, to Michael "Mike" Sparks, a high school football coach, and Jane (née Crabb), an elementary school teacher. He attended Marlow High School, where his father coached, graduating in 1990. While attending school in Marlow, Paul was a part of the Marlow Outlaw Speech Team (M.O.S.T.) where he was coached by Paula and Gary McConnell. Sparks earned a scholarship to Oklahoma State University to study chemistry, but later transferred to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama in 1995.

In 2010, Sparks began portraying the regular role of Mickey Doyle on HBO's drama series Boardwalk Empire, which was created by Terence Winter and executive produced by Martin Scorsese and Mark Wahlberg. The series ended in 2014, after completing five seasons.

Personal life

Sparks is married to actress Annie Parisse, after meeting in 2005. Together they have two children, son Emmett (born 2009), and daughter Lydia (born 2014). Sparks has diabetes mellitus type 1 and works with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He is good friends with fellow actor Michael Shannon; the two have worked together on a number of projects including Waco, The Missing Person, Mud, Boardwalk Empire, and Midnight Special.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Paul Sparks at IMDb
• Paul Sparks at the Internet Broadway Database
• Paul Sparks at the Internet Off-Broadway Database