Mike Vitar Wiki Bio
Michael Anthony ‘Mike’ Vitar was born in Los Angeles, California USA, on 21 December 1978 – his zodiac sign is Sagittarius, and he holds American nationality. He’s a firefighter and a former actor, perhaps known best for his roles in movies such as “The Sandlot”, “D2: The Mighty Ducks”, and “D3: The Mighty Ducks”.
Early life, family and education
Mike grew up in Los Angeles, alongside his older brother Pablo, and older sister Elizabeth. He started acting at the age of 12, when he was spotted by a casting manager when he was waiting in line for a ride at a school carnival.
Mike studied at St. Francis High School in nearby La Canada, from which he matriculated in 1997. During his senior year at high school, he worked for Gerber Ambulance in Torrance, which inspired him to become a professional firefighter. Much like Mike, Pablo also changed careers, joining the Los Angeles Police Department in 1996; he passed away due to colon cancer in January 2008.
Career as an actor
Mike made his acting debut in 1991, when he starred in the action drama thriller “Diplomatic Immunity”, based on the novel by Theodore Taylor.
In the same year, he had a main role in the educational documentary video “Everything You Wanted to Know About Puberty For Boys”, and also appeared in an episode of the critically-acclaimed drama series “Brooklyn Bridge”.
In 1993, Mike made an appearance in the thriller movie “Sunset Grill”, directed by Kevin Connor, and which starred Peter Weller, Lori Singer and Stacy Keach. In the same year, he had his perhaps most recognized role of Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez in the coming-of-age comedy drama film “The Sandlot”, which also starred Tom Guiry, Karen Allen and Denis Leary.
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The movie is written, directed and narrated by David Mickey Evans, and follows a group of child baseball players during the summer of 1962. The film was a mild commercial success, having grossed more than $34 million at the box office, and has since gained the status of a cult classic, due to its distinctly nostalgic theme. It had two direct-to-DVD sequels – “The Sandlot Continues” (2005) and “The Sandlot: Heading Home” (2006) – but Mike didn’t reprise his role in either of them, although his appearance in the movie garnered Mike an enormous following at the time, sharing the spotlight with the likes of Jared Leto, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Eddie Furlong.
Another notable role for Mike was in the 1994 children’s sports film “D2: The Mighty Ducks”, the second installment in Disney’s “The Mighty Ducks” movie trilogy. Like its predecessor, the movie follows an underdog junior hockey team, in their quest to win a local championship, in spite of all their setbacks. Although it was a box-office and home video hit, it received primarily negative reviews from the critics, who compared it unfavourably to the original movie, and was featured on several year-end ‘worst-of’ movie lists. Mike reprised the role of hockey player Luis Mendoza in the third and final “The Mighty Ducks” movie, which came out in 1996.
In 1996 and 1997, respectively, Mike made appearances in an episode of popular TV series, “NYPD Blue” and “Chicago Hope”. He then retired from acting entirely, and only made an appearance in the 2018 documentary movie about “The Sandlot”, entitled “Legends Never Die: The Sandlot Story”. Several of Mike’s co-stars from “The Sandlot” have also quit acting, including Chauncey Leopary (Squints), who has become a professional poker player, Marty York (Alan McClennan), who became a personal trainer, and Brandon Quintis Adams, who is an up-and-coming rapper, while Tom Guiry is the only member of the cast who has a successful acting career as an adult, having appeared in movies such as “Mystic River” and “The Revenant”.
Where is he now?
Despite his enormous success as a child actor, Mike unexpectedly removed himself from the spotlight in the late 1990’s, which left many of his fans wondering what had happened to the former teenage heart-throb. In 2014, Mike’s “The Mighty Ducks” co-star, Jeffrey Nordling, gave an interview for the “Time” magazine, in which he removed some of the mystery surrounding Mike’s life, revealing that he became a firefighter, and kept playing baseball in his spare time.
In the following year, Mike came back into spotlight, but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons.
Namely, the former actor made headlines as it became publicly known that he was facing assault charges after himself and two other firefighters attacked 22year-old Samuel Chang, accusing him of handing out drug-laced candy for Halloween. Chang was apparently pinned to the ground by Mike and one of his colleagues, while the other one held him in chokehold until he fell unconscious. They proceeded to perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) on Chang until the paramedics arrived, but he ended up being hospitalized for weeks. Following the incident, Mike was charged with felony assault, and was suspended from duty without pay for six months.
Mike has since returned to his job, and seems to still be actively working as a firefighter. He isn’t active on social media, aside from having a private Facebook profile, and hasn’t made any public appearances since “The Sandlot” documentary came out in 2018.
Love life and wife
Shortly after starting his firefighting career, Mike married his long-term girlfriend, Kym Vitar (nee Allen) in early 2006. In the following year, they welcomed their son Wesley, and Kym has since given birth to two more children, Norah Paige Vitar and their only daughter, Eli Vitar.
Mike’s wife Kym, is a professional photographer, who specializes in capturing family portraits. She shares some of her works on her personal website, alongside her Instagram page, ‘@kymvitarphotography’.
The family is residing in suburban Los Angeles, staying away from publicity.
Appearance, age and net worth
Mike is 43 years old. He has short brown hair and brown eyes, is 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, and weighs around 175lbs (80kgs).
As of January 2022, his net worth is estimated at more than $300,000.
