Who is Elizabeth Gillies' husband Michael Corcoran? Here's how his TV partnership with Dan Schneider fell apart
Michael Corcoran is a lucky man. The 47-year-old musician just tied the knot with beloved 'Dynasty' actress Elizabeth “Liz” Gillies in a hush-hush wedding ceremony with close friends on the Inn at Fernbrook Farms — a quaint, Colonial-era farm in the middle of New Jersey. Earlier set for an April 25 ceremony, the couple moved the date to August 8, 2020, in lieu of the coronavirus pandemic.
Their love story is one for the ages. The pair had been dating for six years before they decided to get hitched. As per an elaborate Vogue report, Liz would fly on the weekend to see Michael and their dogs in Los Angeles as she had been working in Atlanta for the past two years. "Once 'Dynasty' got picked up for a third season, I not-so-subtly suggested that he relocate so that we could start a new chapter in Atlanta," Liz said. "Luckily, he agreed, and we bought a house together. He’s a California guy through and through, so it was a big deal for him to leave LA and move to the Southeast."
With the sudden announcement, fans are in for a bit of shock and can't stop wondering who Michael is. Here's all you need to know about him.
Who is Michael Corcoran?
Born on December 9, 1972, in Los Angeles, California, he is a record producer and music composer popular as Backhouse Mike and Ken Lofkoll. Corcoran rose to prominence after his collaborations with producer Dan Schneider on several Nickelodeon shows. Reportedly, he entered the industry in the late '90s along with CJ Abraham aka The Super Chris. The two first started individually with commercials and sound design projects and soon started co-writing and co-producing music with Drake Bell, including his first album and his second album. Did you know Corcoran wrote the end credits song for 'Superhero Movie' with Drake Bell?
What's more, he also has a band known as Backhouse Mike and as per a Shake It Up Fandom report, it also consists of lead singer and guitarist Jon Seminara, bassist John Charles Meyer and keyboardist Kimberly Barnett. The band made an appearance on 'iCarly' in the episode 'iAm Your Biggest Fan', as well as the final episode 'Chasing Zoey', of 'Zoey 101' with the name "Backflesh".
A look at his partnership with Dan Schneider
His partnership with Dan Schneider took him to newer heights. Together, the producer and music composer made over 150 episodes of Nickelodeon programming including 'Drake and Josh', 'Zoey 101', 'iCarly', and 'Victorious', which also starred his wife Liz. Not just that, Corcoran penned down the theme songs for 'iCarly', 'Merry Christmas Drake and Josh', 'Drake and Josh Go To Hollywood', 'Victorious' (with Dr. Luke) and 'The Troop' on which he collaborated with The Super Chris as a writer and producer.
On March 26, 2018, Nickelodeon announced that they had parted ways with Schneider. First reported by Deadline, Nickelodeon and Schneider said in a joint statement: “Following many conversations together about next directions and future opportunities, Nickelodeon and our long-time creative partner Dan Schneider/Schneider’s Bakery have agreed to not extend the current deal,” adding, “Since several Schneider’s Bakery projects are wrapping up, both sides agreed that this is a natural time for Nickelodeon and Schneider’s Bakery to pursue other opportunities and projects.”
“We thank Dan and his Schneider’s Bakery producers, executives and social media team for their immeasurable contributions to Nickelodeon, and we wish them the best in their future endeavors. And Dan and Schneider’s Bakery are proud of the work they did together with Nickelodeon and will always remain big fans of the network,” the statement also read.
As per the report, the decision came on the heels of unconfirmed allegations of Schneider's temper issues and a cloud of suspicion over photos of the toes of his young female stars. However, there was no confirmation as Nickelodeon did not respond to Deadline's report and Schneider's representative refused to comment on the report. In December 2020, a revival of the Nickelodeon series 'iCarly' was ordered at Paramount Plus and it led to a string of accusations and outrage on the Internet again.
Where is he now?
Meanwhile, Backhouse Mike and The Super Chris continued to collaborate with artists like Victoria Justice, Dr Luke, Nick Hexum, Cindy Almouzni, Alissa Griffith, Alyssa Suede Campbell, Max Gomez, Electrolightz, The Record Life, Mavin, Zach Hexum, The Deserters, Miranda Cosgrove, and Taylor Momsen, according to Fandom.
As per a Just Jared report, he recently clinched a 2020 BMI Cable Television Music Award for his work on the series 'Henry Danger' with Niki Hexum and Zack Hexum. The report also details how he produced and co-wrote songs for Drake Bell, the iCarly theme song 'Leave It All To Me', and quite a few songs from 'Victorious'.
Now married to Liz, Corcoran lives in Atlanta where the two bought a house together. Shedding light on their relationship, Liz told Vogue, “It has been such a long road for us, and at times [it] felt like a total impossibility that it was hard to believe we’d actually gotten to that moment where it was really happening,” adding, “Once we were exchanging vows, it hit me that my dad was marrying us and our loved ones were there, and I think I turned to Michael and mouthed, ‘Oh, my God, we actually did it.’ We were so happy.”
Talking about the wedding, Michael cheerfully added, “It was everything that it needed to be and nothing that it didn’t.”