Solomon Shiv was raised in the rural farmland of the Northern California Wine Country. 

 

He gained notoriety with the recurring role of Philadelphia gangster Herman Kaufman on HBO's Boardwalk Empire, and has appeared in guest starring roles on N.C.I.S., Person Of Interest, and Law & Order: SVU. He recently appeared as Michael Bulgari on HBO's True Detective. 

 

Notable film roles include Josh Litman's award winning short film, After Rachel, for which Solomon won a best actor award, Jared Januschka's horror film, The Men of Santa Muerte, family film David Moyer, directed by Paul Mones, Two: A Love Story, directed by Georgi Polizzi, New Dawn Lab’s Angels, directed by Abraham Heissler, and Jeff Turick's Allison, which was featured in Canon’s Beyond The Still project at Sundance. He co-wrote and co-starred in Second Studio’s Film, Face To Face, directed by John Anthony, Tchula Junctions’ Werewolf and S&M- both directed by Matthew D’Abate. He also starred in the domestic violence thriller Come Out, Come Out! (Partner’s In Crime Productions) and the TV movie Black Dawn, directed by Josh Crook from Crook Brothers Productions. Black Bag Films’ Le Court, a french tennis satire, won the audience favorite in the 48 Hour Film Festival. 

 

He originated fire cracker roles for the Berkeley and San Francisco runs of Karen Penley’s Circus Proboscis: A Sneeze Of Freaks, and Ken Haus’ rage-infested Chuck and Benny, as well as being the front-man for the cacophonous power-funk band, Monikerz. He helped to found The Orphans, a theatre company near and dear to his heart. At NYC’s eclectic Circle In The Square Theatre, he performed in Macbeth, Cowboy Mouth, Too Clever By Half (Or The Diary Of A Scoundrel), The Crucible, and The Seagull. In the indy theater circuit, he performed in The Witches, The Complte Wrks of Willm Shakespeare {Abridged} as well as the original plays Touch Me, The Owners, and Un-Lonely Planet. In between film projects, he was voted best actor at The 8 Minute Madness Playwright Festival, and contributed his physical acting chops to the development of Yvonne Gougelet's ambitious play Prehistoric Love, about one of the first relationships between two Neanderthals.  Most notably, he has descended into madness multiple times to play the role of Chief Bromden in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest- for both Wide Eyed Productions and and Connecticutt's Historic Ivoryton Playhouse – where the shows were met with little less than standing ovations.

 

Upcoming films include Jason O'Silva's Lonely Hearts Club, Patrick Lee's My Quiet Hero, Jared Januschka's crime drama See How They Run, Michael Kelly's Volume, and Josh Litman's neo-noir Last Dance. He currently lives in Los Angeles.