Trivia

He was the son of Bette Nesmith Graham (born Bette Clair McMurray) and Warren Audrey Nesmith. Michael's mother was a legal secretary/typist in Houston, Texas. On account of her hobby of painting, she came up with the idea and invented Liquid Paper typing correction fluid and made an enormous fortune overnight.

Invented the idea for what became MTV. Sold the idea to Time-Warner and created a proof of concept for 24-hour music television in the form of six half hour shows called "Pop Clips". Time-Warner aired Popclips on Nickelodeon Channel for testing and it was an instant hit. Nesmith moved on to other projects after the testing phase as he did not wish to be involved in managing a television network.

Michael spent fourteen months in the United States Air Force where he tipped over a general's airplane while cleaning the airplane.

During the 1980s, he built up the largest non-theatrical home video catalog in the world called Pacific Arts Corporation. It owned rights to everything from Koyaanisqatsi (1982) to The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau (1966) to Ken Burns The Civil War (1990). Pacific Arts licensed the right to use the PBS logo on the titles in its catalog which had been aired on PBS, and developed the PBS Home Video label. The venture ended in a lawsuit with PBS that resulted in a six-week trial in federal court. A jury unanimously found PBS liable for intentional misrepresentation, intentional concealment, negligent misrepresentation, intentional interference with Pac Arts' contractual relations with the program producers and in breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. They awarded Pacific Arts and Nesmith real and punitive damages totaling more than $47,000,000. PBS and Nesmith subsequently settled for an undisclosed sum.

Arrived for his first interview for The Monkees wearing a wool cap, to keep the hair out of his eyes while driving his motorcycle around town (Nesmith also carried a bag of laundry, to be done at a nearby laundromat on his way home). Producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider remembered him as "Wool Hat"; they wanted to name his Monkees character that, but Nesmith refused.

Inherited half his mother's $35 million estate from the sale of Liquid Paper, the rest finances a private think tank, the Council on Ideas.

Penned the hit single "Different Drum" by the folk rock trio Stone Poneys. Linda Ronstadt sang the lead.

Michael Nesmith passed away on December 10, 2021, only three weeks away from what would have been his 79th birthday on December 30.

Gave up taking the "A" side of the first single actually performed by The Monkees, instead choosing friend Bill Martin's song "All of Your Toys", which Nesmith believed would be a bigger hit. A publishing snag keep "Toys" from being released (until the late 1980s), but Nesmith's "B" side, "The Girl I Knew Somewhere", backed their next single - Neil Diamond's song "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You".

He was the only Monkee who had actually seen the initial trades ad for the sitcom's casting.

He was invited to the famous orchestral session for "A Day in the Life" by the immortal John Lennon.

Attended San Antonio College, where he meet John London and began a musical collaboration.

Continued to be active in all media including video games, on line delivery of media, and was an avid golfer.

When Los Monkees (1965) ended, Nesmith enrolled part-time at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he studied American history and music history.

Had published several songs through different companies before signing his contracts for The Monkees; Nesmith's song "Mary, Mary" had already been a hit for the Butterfield Blues Band. With Nesmith signed to Screen Gems as a songwriter, the company next bought up Nesmith's earlier publishing, so his songs could be used for the Monkees.

Had four children: Christian Nesmith (born 1965), Jonathan Nesmith (born 1968), Jason Nesmith (born 1968), and Jessica Nesmith (born 1970).

Shares a birthday with fellow Monkee Davy Jones.

Attended Thomas Jefferson High School, but enlisted in the United States Air Force before graduating (1960).

Had an online store called videoranch.com that allows customers to buy his works straight from him. Products include CDs, DVDs, and music downloads.

The Monkees were awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6675 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

His comedy movie "Elephant Parts" (1981) won the first Grammy Award for a video record.

His first professional recording (under the pseudonym "Michael Blessing") was a folk music single entitled "What Seems to Be the Trouble, Officer?".

Had actually been "labelmates" with Davy Jones earlier, as both were signed to the Colpix Records label (Nesmith recorded as "Michael Blessing"), though they would apparently never meet. While Jones had released a modestly successful LP and single by 1965, Nesmith's two singles hadn't gotten far past the promotional stage. The Colpix label (belonging to Columbia Pictures, and controlled by Screen Gems) was dissolved in 1966, to make way for the new Colgems label--with The Monkees as its centerpiece.

Had begun a small video game development company in Monterey, California called Zoomo Productions. (abril de 2005)

Born on the exact same date as Fred Ward.

Has two grandchildren.

He was a millionaire owner of a video company,.

Received the Dallas Video Festival's Ernie Kovacs Award for his contributions to the video industry in October, 2016.

Has an exhibit display of his career at the Texas Musicians Museum in Las Colinas, Tx (near Irving.).

He won the first Video of the Year award at the 1982 Grammy Awards for his show Elephant Parts.