Michel is a first generation American born to parents who narrowly escaped the Holocaust. They themselves sprung from the Great Diaspora, which began, for their parents, in Moscow, Odessa and Kiev. Michel's mother, Nadine Gill, lives in New York, and his father, James Vladimir Gill, lived in Switzerland until his death in 1995. James was less pre-occupied with having survived the horrible events of the 30's and 40's and more concerned about how he was going to survive survival.Michel has three sisters, Nina, Kitty and Natasha, and often wondered why he hadn't been called Andre. His sisters are sprinkled around the globe and, as far as he knows, they have no desire to return to Moscow. His first language was French, his second, English ... then came studies in Latin, Greek, German, Italian and Russian. At this juncture, he's amazed he can ask for a glass of water in one of them!Michel began his acting career at the tender age of 5 when he pretended to be ecstatic about the birth of his 3rd sister, Natasha. Since then, he's pretended to feel a host of other emotions in plain view of audiences around the world.