Michael Jonathan Zegen, an American actor, was born on February 20, 1979, to a teacher mother and a lawyer father. He grew up in Glen Rock, New Jersey, before moving to nearby Ridgewood at the age of five. Zegen has two brothers and is Jewish. His mother was born in Austria in a displaced persons' camp, and his maternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors from Ukraine and Poland.
Zegen attended Ridgewood High School, where he was active in the school's theater program. He is a 2001 graduate of Skidmore College. His early career in acting began with a recurring role on the television series Rescue Me, playing the nephew of series lead Tommy Gavin.
In 2010, Zegen was cast as gangster Bugsy Siegel for the second, third, and fifth season of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. He also had supporting roles in the HBO comedy series How To Make It In America and a recurring guest role in the second season of the AMC series The Walking Dead.
Zegen made his off-Broadway debut in the dark comedy Bad Jews in 2014, playing the role of Liam. He then made his Broadway debut in A View from the Bridge in 2015. In 2017, Zegen played Joel Maisel in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, earning two Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series awards from the Screen Actors Guild.
In 2021, Zegen returned to Broadway to star in Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress.
