Michael Campbell (born in Anderson, Indiana) started his public career as a singer, songwriter and musician in Detroit. In 1967 with a short-lived band called 'The Abstract Reality', a 45 rpm single Love Burns Like A Fire Inside was released. With Bob 'Babbitt' Kreinar, Ray Monette and Andrew Smith he formed Scorpion (1968–1970 band). His name appears as Mike Campbell on Scorpion (1969 album) and Meat Loaf's debut album Stoney & Meatloaf (1971). For this recording, apart from having cowritten four songs, he played the harmonica on Lady Be Mine.

He became an actor by the name Michael Champion and since 1979 played in several TV series and movies such as Diagnosis Murder (1993), Matlock (1989), and The Flash (1991), History of the World: Part I (1981), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Total Recall (1990) and Toy Soldiers (1991), and video game characters like the terrorist in Flash Traffic: City of Angels (1994) and 'Wolf' in Maximum Surge (1996).