Michael Zaslow was born on November 1, 1942 in Inglewood, California and was an actor and writer, best known for his work in daytime dramas, or soap operas. He was married twice, to Joanne Dorian and Susan Hufford, by whom he had two daughters, Helena and Marika. He died on December 6, 1998 in New York City, succumbing to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a nerve-cell disorder better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Michael's Broadway credits included Fiddler on the Roof, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Boccaccio, and Onward Victoria, while he appeared in the films You Light Up My Life, Meteor, and Seven Minutes in Heaven, and guested on numerous primetime series, from Star Trek (1966) to Law and Order (1990). He acted in several soap operas, namely CBS's Search for Tomorrow (1951) and Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1967), and ABC's One Life to Live (1968), and wrote for NBC's Another World (1964). But he was best known for portraying the manipulative businessman Roger Thorpe on the CBS daytime drama Guiding Light, the longest running dramatic series of any genre, beginning January 25, 1937 on radio, and playing from June 30, 1952 to September 18, 2009 on television. Michael received four Emmy nominations playing the villainous Roger Thorpe from 1971 to 1980, and again from 1989 to 1997, and garnered a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1994 for the role. He was a favorite of both critics and fans.