Michael Emerson sister: Meet Melissa Emerson

Michael Emerson was born on September 7, 1954, and is an American actor who is best known for his roles as serial killer William Hinks on The Practice, Benjamin Linus on Lost, Zep Hindle in the first Saw film, Cayden James on Arrow, and Harold Finch in the CBS series Person of Interest.

Emerson has also worked extensively in theater and narration. He has won two Primetime Emmy Awards and been nominated for three others, as well as receiving other awards and nominations. He currently stars as Dr. Leland Townsend in the Paramount+ thriller series Evil.

Emerson was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Carol (formerly Hansen) and Ronald H. Emerson. He grew up in Toledo, Iowa, where he was a member of his high school marching band.

He graduated in 1976 from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where he majored in theater[ and minored in art. He studied for a semester at the National Theater Institute at The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, then moved to New York City. Unable to find acting work, he took retail jobs and worked as an illustrator.

In 1986, he moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where (from 1986 to 1993) he appeared in local productions at Theater Jacksonville and The Players by the Sea and worked as a director and teacher at Flagler College.

After several years of work including illustration and teaching, Emerson earned a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Alabama in the Alabama Shakespeare Festival acting program.

Michael Emerson’s sister: Meet Melissa Emerson

 Melissa was born March 30, 1956, in Marshalltown, the daughter of Ronald H. and Carol Hansen Emerson. She was raised in Toledo and Grinnell and was a 1974 graduate of Grinnell High School.

She later was a graduate of Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids. Melissa worked for many years as a fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in Austin, Texas, before returning to Iowa to be near family.

Melissa Ann Emerson, 56, of Des Moines, passed away on January 19, 2013, at Broadlawns Hospital in Des Moines.

Survivors include her parents, Ron and Carol Emerson of Grinnell; a brother, Michael and his wife, Carrie of New York City, and a brother, Patrick and his wife, Diana and children, Sophia and Nathaniel of Olathe, Kansas.