When young he lived with his four brothers and sisters in a council house in Newcastle Upon Tyne then when 14 the family moved to Thornyburn near Bellingham where he made his first film, 'Redheugh'. He qualified in Newcastle as a music teacher and played in a band, 'The Gasboard' with Brian Ferry before going to London to study music for 3 years and played with The People Band who recorded one album which was produced by Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts and later made a cameo appearance in the film Stormy Monday as The krakow Jazz Ensemble. In the early 70 s he joined an avant garde theatre group -The People Show as a musician but soon found himself lured into acting and spent the next 10 years touring the world earning great success and critical acclaim. Mike left the show in 1980 to concentrate on writing and directing and formed his own theatre company The Mike Figgis Group. He crafted multimedia productions which incorporated an extensive use of film. Among his early projects were Redhugh, Slow Fade and Animals of the City which won awards for the innovative blend of live action with music and film. Redhugh caught the eye of Channel 4 which financed his first feature =The House. His next film was Stormy Monday he wrote, directed and scored and which advanced him into full length features. He next made his debut in American films with Internal Affairs which he directed and co scored, He next coaxed Kim Novak out of retirement to star in Liebestraum which he directed and scored. A few films down the line he wrote, directed and scored One Night Stand which won Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival