Michael Kevin Paré was born on October 9, 1958, in Brooklyn, New York City, to Joan Moroney and Francis Paré, who owned and operated multiple print shops. Unfortunately, his father passed away from leukemia when Paré was just five years old, leaving his mother to raise a large family of children on her own.
Growing up, Paré developed a passion for cooking and eventually began working as a chef in New York City. However, his life took an unexpected turn when an agent named Yvette Bikoff discovered his acting potential and convinced him to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.
Paré's first major acting role was as Tony Villcana, a high school student, on the popular television series The Greatest American Hero, which aired in 1981. This early success led to more prominent film roles, including his portrayal of 1960s rock icon Eddie Wilson in the films Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) and Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! (1989).
In addition to his work in the Eddie and the Cruisers franchise, Paré appeared in several other notable films, such as Streets of Fire (1984),The Philadelphia Experiment (1984),Moon 44 (1990),Village of the Damned (1995),Bad Moon (1996),Hope Floats (1998),and The Virgin Suicides (1999).
On television, Paré starred alongside Michael Beck in the CBS police drama Houston Knights (1987) and later appeared in the short-lived sci-fi series Starhunter (2000).