Michael was raised, mostly by his grandparents Ella and Vester, in rural North Carolina on a tobacco farm.Graduated from New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1983, along with (among many others) actors Elias Koteas, Illeana Douglas, Louis Mustillo, Adam Klugman, Jody Wood, Elisa Anders, Jonathan Mandell, and Brian Markinson.After graduating, Carter, Markinson, Koteas, Wood, Anders, and Mandell were members of the Academy of Dramatic Arts' 1983-1984 Production Company. Show less «