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Edwards says that Davenport, who died earlier this year, had to pick between O'Malley and a student who looked the part. Davenport said he chose O'Malley "'because he will really act to get into this part,' recalls Edwards. "And, of course, Mike nearly stole the show."

"I remember seeing Mike in 'Little Shop of Horrors' in Portsmouth before we graduated," says Rick Munroe '88. "What stood out then, and what makes him a great actor now, is his extraordinary sense of comic timing. You knew then he was going to be something special."

Red Sox fans Fiona and Mike O'Malley.

After graduation, O'Malley joined Munroe and a few other friends in New York City. There Munroe and O'Malley studied at a now-defunct acting school for two years.

Just months out of acting school, O'Malley was hired to host a Nickelodeon game show, "Get the Picture." The job gave him the financial security to pursue other acting opportunities. "And I made great contacts," says O'Malley. "Two Nick guys helped me produce 'Three Years from Thirty.'"

Acting offers flowed in. At Nickelodeon, he hosted another show, "Guts," for four seasons. ESPN hired him as The Rick, and he starred in 20 episodes of a Warner Brothers sitcom called "Life with Roger." Moving to Los Angeles, he landed roles in several films, including "Deep Impact" and "Above Freezing." But at the same time--despite the washout of "The Mike O'Malley Show"--O'Malley was beginning to identify himself as a writer more than an actor.

O'Malley's latest play once again draws on his personal experience. "Searching for Certainty" is about Pre-Cana, the marriage preparation workshop that couples must attend, as Mike and Lisa O'Malley did, before marrying in the Catholic Church. The play presents theatergoers with such questions as: What is fidelity? What is trust? How do you create faith if you've lost it? How do you deal with change in a relationship?

"It occurred to me that people who get married in their 30s, like me, have already been 'divorced' from a significant person, if not in the literal sense," he says. "So what makes things different now, with this person you're going to marry? That's what 'Searching' is about." There is studio interest in a film version of the play, and last summer the Williamstown (Mass.) Theatre Festival featured it in a series of new play readings. It got a standing ovation.

"For friends who know me, my serious plays are not a departure," says O'Malley. "But for people who know me through my television characters, it's unexpected. The goofy side has been my living, but it's my introspective side that comes out in the writing."

Despite his goal to devote himself to writing, O'Malley will play Jimmy Hughes for at least a few more seasons. In the meantime, there's a daughter to dote on, sports teams to follow and new plays to write. Maybe his next work will have to do with fatherhood and sleep deprivation. Or maybe not. With Mike O'Malley, it's a good idea to expect the unexpected. ~

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