Michael Alexander was born in 1942 in the Warwickshire hamlet of Birchmoor. He attended school from 1947 to 1957 at Polesworth Second Modern Congregation Church, Long Street in Dordon. Michael lived at 30 Green Lane and was born in 4 Green Lane, Birchmoor. In 1948, he moved to 30 Coppice Drive, Dordon. Michael worked at Birch Coppice Colliery from 1947 to 1959. He served in the army in Wiltshire, Kenya, Swaziland and Yemen in 1964 and in Germany in 1965. He wrote to Sheila from Kenya and married her in 1966. They had two daughters, Shirley and Karen, and lived in Harpurhey, Manchester.

He worked as a long-distance truck driver until 1984, when he gave it up due to ill health. Later, he worked for Aztec Chems Co. and retired in 2004 due to ill health.