Background and career
Michael Kostroff (born May 22, 1961) is an American actor. He appeared on the HBO drama series The Wire as defense attorney Maurice Levy. Kostroff starred in the fifth season of the series and appeared in all four earlier seasons as a guest star.
Kostroff is best known for his five seasons playing drug lawyer Maury Levy on the HBO series The Wire, and from his recurring appearances on shows including The Blacklist, Billions, The Good Wife, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as his role as Marshall Pike on the Disney Channel series Sonny with a Chance. He played Peter Madoff, brother of Bernie Madoff (Robert De Niro), in HBO's The Wizard of Lies, and Shepsie Tirschwell in David Simon's 2020 miniseries The Plot Against America. From 2002 to 2003, Kostroff performed in the first national tour of Mel Brooks' Broadway hit The Producers, and from 2003 to 2004, he played the comic villain Thénardier in the touring company of Les Misérables, a role he reprised for its 25th anniversary tour in 2010. Kostroff is the author of four books: Letters from Backstage (a chronicle of his time on the road with two Broadway tours); The Stage Actor's Handbook: Traditions, Protocols, and Etiquette for the Working and Aspiring Professional; Audition Psych 101 (based on his workshop of the same name); and Advice from 'The Working Actor' (a textbook based on the “Working Actor” advice column in the weekly publication Backstage; Kostroff was also one of the writers of that column). He also volunteered on the Barack Obama campaign. Kostroff is the brother of Nina Kostroff Noble, a television producer who was an executive producer of The Wire. In September 2024, he was cast in a recurring role on the superhero series Spider-Noir.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
