Michael Bergin
{{short description|American real estate agent and former actor and model}}
{{BLP sources|date=May 2010}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Michael John Bergin.jpg
| caption = Michael Bergin in 1996
| name = Michael Bergin
| birth_name = Michael John Bergin
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1969|3|18}}
| birth_place = Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| other_names =
| website =
| spouse = Joy Tilk (m. 2004)
| children = 2
}}
Michael John Bergin (born March 18, 1969) is an American real estate agent and former model and actor.
Early life
Born in Naugatuck, Connecticut, Bergin attended the University of Connecticut. He began modeling while in college.{{cn|date=December 2023}}
Career
Bergin is perhaps best known as Mark Wahlberg's successor in Calvin Klein's racy series of black-and-white underwear ads. In addition to his high-profile role as the "spokesbody" for Calvin Klein, Bergin has walked the runways of New York City, Paris and Milan for Sonia Rykiel, Valentino, Calvin Klein, Gianfranco Ferré, Giorgio Armani, Yves Saint Laurent and Donna Karan and was the exclusive model for Claiborne for Men, a division of Liz Claiborne, Inc., for over three years. He has also appeared in commercials and print advertisements for Kellogg's, Bacardi Rum, L'Oréal, Maybelline, Coty, Valentino, Perry Ellis, and Liz Claiborne. Bergin is signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, and New York Model Management.
Apart from the fashion industry, Bergin also ventured into acting, playing the character J.D. Darius on Baywatch and later Baywatch: Hawaii for 88 episodes from 1997 to 2001, and starring as the same character in the made-for-TV Film Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding in 2003.
In 2006, he appeared on VH1's sci-fi celeb reality show Celebrity Paranormal Project. Bergin later launched his own brand of men's underwear.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}
Bergin now works as a real estate agent in Beverly Hills.{{cite web|title=About Adrienne and Michael Kessler-Bergin|url=http://www.realtor.com/realestateagents/Adrienne-And-Michael-Kessler-Bergin_Beverly-Hills_CA_105211_088884428|website=Realtor.com|accessdate=19 July 2015}}
Personal life
In the early 1990s, Bergin met Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, a Calvin Klein publicist, whom he dated seriously, despite her burgeoning relationship with John F. Kennedy Jr., whom she later married in September 1996.{{cite journal|last=Gliatto|first=Tom|date=1996-10-07|title=Bridal Sweet|journal=People|volume=46|issue=15|issn=0093-7673|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20142438,00.html}} Kennedy and Bessette-Kennedy died in a plane crash in July 1999.{{cite journal|last=Hewitt|first=Bill|author2=Lambert, Pam |author3=Reed, J.D. |author4=Rogers, Patrick |author5=Schindehette, Susan |author6= Tresniowski, Alex |date=1999-08-02|title=Lost in the Night|journal=People|volume=25|issue=4|issn=0093-7673}} In early 2004, Bergin published a book about his relationship with Bessette, The Other Man, claiming that they continued a sexual affair during the time Bessette was dating Kennedy and during their marriage.{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,627895,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080320015816/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,627895,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 20, 2008|title='Baywatch' Cad Talks Up Bessette Affair|last=Peterson|first=Todd|date=2004-03-24|publisher=People|access-date=10 December 2011}}
On September 24, 2004, Bergin married makeup artist Joy Tilk with whom he has two children (Jesse b. October 8, 2000; Alana b. February 16, 2004).{{cite journal|last=Lipton|first=Mike|author2=Tauber, Michelle|title=Billy's Bride and Joy|journal=People|volume=62|issue=16|issn=0093-7673|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20145740,00.html}}
Bergin has worked with the anti-drug children's program D.A.R.E. as a national spokesperson, and has lent his name, time, and image to numerous AIDS charities.{{cite book|last=Bergin|first=Michael|title=The Other Man: John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette, and Me|date=2004-03-30|publisher=William Morrow|isbn=0-06-072389-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/othermanjohnfken00berg/page/185 185]|chapter=6|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/othermanjohnfken00berg/page/185}}
Notes
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|74648|Michael Bergin}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergin, Michael}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male soap opera actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American businesspeople in real estate
Category:Male actors from Waterbury, Connecticut
Category:Male models from Connecticut