fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Michael Rooker (born April 6, 1955)[1] is an American actor known for his roles as Henry in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986), Chick Gandil in Eight Men Out (1988), Frank Baily in Mississippi Burning (1988), Terry Cruger in Sea of Love (1989), Rowdy Burns in Days of Thunder (1990), Bill Broussard in JFK (1991), Hal Tucker in Cliffhanger (1993), Sherman McMaster in Tombstone (1993), Jared Svenning in Mallrats (1995), Detective Howard Cheney in The Bone Collector (1999), Grant Grant in Slither (2006), Merle Dixon in AMC's The Walking Dead (2010–2013), Yondu Udonta in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), its sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), and the animated series What If...? (2021), and Savant in The Suicide Squad (2021).

Michael Rooker
Rooker at GalaxyCon Richmond in 2020
Born	(1955-04-06) April 6, 1955 (age 67) Jasper, Alabama, U.S.
Education	DePaul University (BFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1986–present
Spouse	Margot Rooker ​ (m. 1979)​
Children	2
Signature

Since 2006, he has been a frequent collaborator of filmmaker James Gunn, and has appeared in all five films Gunn has directed so far.

Early life

Rooker was born in Jasper, Alabama. He has nine brothers and sisters. His parents divorced when he was 13, and he moved with his mother and siblings to Chicago, Illinois, where he attended Wells Community Academy High School and studied at the Goodman School of Drama at DePaul University.[2][3][4]

Career

He made his film debut in 1986, playing the title role in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, based on the confessions of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas.[5] He was acting in a play when the play's director, who was going to do the prosthetics for Henry, told him about the role. Rooker did not care if the script was good or bad; he just wanted to act in a film as it would "challenge" him.[6] Henry was a critical success and Rooker received more film roles.

He was given more dramatic roles in films such as Eight Men Out, Mississippi Burning, and JFK, but he became widely known for his roles in action and thriller films such as Sea of Love, Days of Thunder, Cliffhanger,[7] and Tombstone.[8] He also starred in Mallrats, Rosewood, The 6th Day, Slither, Jumper, Super[9] and Hypothermia.[10][11]

In June 2010, he revealed via Twitter that he was to appear in the AMC television series The Walking Dead as Merle Dixon, one of the survivors of a zombie apocalypse. He guest-starred in two episodes of the first season and one of the second season before becoming a series regular for the third season.[12][13]

Rooker is also known for his roles in video games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops (where he played himself), Mike Harper in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 in November 2012, and as Merle in The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, the video game based on the television series.

He played Yondu in the Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy, directed by James Gunn,[14] and reprised it in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017).[15] In 2021 he appeared in the action film F9, directed by Justin Lin.[16]

Personal life

Rooker lives in California with his wife Margot Rooker. They married in 1979 and have two daughters. He practices the Kyokushin style of karate.[1][17]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer	Henry	Fantasporto Award for Best Actor Golden Space Needle Award for Best Actor Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead
1987	Light of Day	Oogie
	Rent-A-Cop	Joe
1988	Above the Law	Man in bar
	Eight Men Out	Arnold "Chick" Gandil
	Mississippi Burning	Frank Bailey
1989	Sea of Love	Terry Cruger
	Music Box	Karchy Laszlo
1990	Days of Thunder	Rowdy Burns
1991	JFK	Bill Broussard
1993	The Dark Half	Sheriff Alan Pangborn
	Cliffhanger	Ranger Hal Tucker
	Tombstone	Sherman McMasters
1994	Suspicious	Attendant	Short film
	The Hard Truth	Jonah Mantz
1995	Mallrats	Jared Svenning
1996	Bastard Out of Carolina	Uncle Earle
	The Trigger Effect	Gary
1997	Song of Hiawatha	Bertrand
	Rosewood	Sheriff Walker
	Keys to Tulsa	Keith Michaels
	Deceiver	Kennesaw
	Shadow Builder	Father Vassey
1998	The Replacement Killers	Detective Stan "Zeedo" Zedkov
	Brown's Requiem	Fritz Brown	Also associate producer
	Renegade Force	Matt Cooper
1999	A Table for One	Matt Draper / Dr. Matthew Swan	Also co-executive producer
	The Bone Collector	Captain Howard Cheney
2000	Table One	Rowdy
	Here on Earth	Malcolm Arnold
	NewsBreak	John McNamara
	The 6th Day	Robert Marshall
2001	Replicant	Detective Jake Riley
2002	Undisputed	Captain A.J. Mercker
2003	The Box	Detective Stafford
2004	The Eliminator	Miles Dawson
2005	Chasing Ghosts	Mark Spencer
2006	Repo! The Genetic Opera	Repo Man	Unreleased short film[18]
	Lenexa, 1 Mile	Russ
	Slither	Grant Grant
2007	Whisper	Sidney
2008	The Lena Baker Story	Randolph County Sheriff
	Jumper	William Rice
	This Man's Life	Richard Crummly	Short film
2009	Super Capers	Judge / Dark Winged Vesper
	Penance	Mann
	The Marine 2	Church	Direct-to-DVD
2010	Scott's Dead	Mitch	Short film
	Freeway Killer	Detective St. John
	Blood Done Sign My Name	Defense Attorney Billy Watkins
	Cell 213	Ray Clement
	DC Showcase: Jonah Hex	Red Doc (voice)	Short film
	Louis	Pat McMurphy
	Super	Abe
2011	Atlantis Down	Father / Alien
	Mysteria	Captain McCarthy
	Elwood	Condello	Short film
2012	The Lost Episode	Chris / Dr. Death	Also director
	Hypothermia	Ray Pelletier
2013	Brother's Keeper	Chief Carver
2014	Guardians of the Galaxy	Yondu Udonta
2016	The Belko Experiment	Bud Melks
2017	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	Yondu Udonta	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2019	Bolden	Pat McMurphy
	Brightburn	The Big T	Cameo
2020	Fantasy Island	Damon
	Love and Monsters	Clyde
2021	F9	Buddy
	The Suicide Squad	Brian Durlin / Savant
	Vivo	Lutador (voice)
2022	Corrective Measures	Overseer Warden Devlin
	White Elephant	Gabriel Tancredi
	The Out-Laws	Agent Oldham	Post-production[19]
2023	Fast X	Buddy	Post-production
TBA	Horizon		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Source
1986	Crime Story	Lieutenant	Episode: "Pilot"
1988	The Equalizer	Bill Whitaker	Episode: "No Place Like Home"
1989	Gideon Oliver	Det. John Quinn	Episode: "Sleep Well, Professor Oliver"
	The Edge	Deputy Sheriff	Television film
	L.A. Takedown	Bosko	Television film
1990	Equal Justice	Wallace "Wally" Dalton	Episode: "Sugar Blues"
1992	Afterburn	Casey "Z" Zankowski	Television film
1995	Fallen Angels	Babe McCloor	Episode: "Fly Paper"
	Johnny & Clyde	Frank Tennant	Television film
1996	Back to Back	Bob Malone	Television film
2001	The Outer Limits	Col. Beckett	Episode: "Patient Zero"
	Hostage Rescue Team	Special Agent Nicholas Roberts	Pilot
2002	Jeremiah	Major Quantrell	Episode: "Firewall"
2003	Tremors	Kinney	Episode: "Hit and Run"
	Lucky	Gibby	Episode: "Savant"
	Stargate SG-1	Col. Edwards	Episode: "Enemy Mine"
	CSI: Miami	Marty Jones	Episode: "Dead Zone"
	On Thin Ice	Hopkins	Television film
	Saving Jessica Lynch	Col. Curry	Television film
2004	Skeleton Man	Capt. Leary	Television film
	Las Vegas	Marcus Wexler	Episode: "Degas Away with It"
2005	Numb3rs	Don's Partner	Unaired pilot
	JAG	Capt. Jack Ramsey	Episode: "Heart of Darkness"
2006	Thief	Det. John Hayes	5 episodes
2007	Crossing Jordan	Shawn Curaco	Episode: "D.O.A."
2008	Law & Order	Jamie Yost	Episode: "Executioner"
	Shark	Oscar Riddick	Episode: "Bar Fight"
	Chuck	Frank Mauser	Episode: "Chuck Versus Santa Claus"
	Humanzee!	Priest	Episode: "Pilot"
2009	Meteor	Calvin Stark	2 episodes
	Criminal Minds	Chief Carlson	Episode: "House on Fire"
	Psych	Garth Longmore	Episode: "Shawn Takes a Shot in the Dark"
2010	Burn Notice	Dale Lawson	Episode: "Guilty as Charged"
	Matadors	John Canterna	Pilot
2010–2013	The Walking Dead	Merle Dixon	14 episodes Satellite Award for Best Cast – Television Series (2012)
2012	Outlaw Country	Larkin's Henchman	Television film
	Archer	Sheriff E.Z. Ponder (voice)	Episode: "Bloody Ferlin"
2016	Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed	Himself	Documentary	[20][21][22]
2017	SEAL Team	Big Chief	Episode: "Tip of the Spear"
	Robot Chicken	Merle Dixon (voice)	Episode: "The Robot Chicken Walking Dead Special: Look Who's Walking"
2019	True Detective	Edward Hoyt	2 episodes
2019	The Dark Tower	Eldred Jonas	Pilot
2021	What If...?	Yondu Udonta (voice)	Episode: "What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?"
2021	Creepshow	Beau	Episode: "Drug Traffic"

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role	Notes
2004	The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay	Centurion, Jack
2011	Call of Duty: Black Ops	Himself	Appears in Call of the Dead
	Days of Thunder	Rowdy Burns
2012	Lollipop Chainsaw	Vikke
	Call of Duty: Black Ops II	Mike Harper	Also motion capture
2013	The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct	Merle Dixon

References

External links

• Michael Rooker at IMDb
• Official website

На других языках

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- [en] Michael Rooker

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[es] Michael Rooker

Michael Rooker (Jasper, Alabama; 6 de abril de 1955) es un actor estadounidense, conocido principalmente por protagonizar la película Henry, retrato de un asesino, basada libremente en la vida del asesino en serie Henry Lee Lucas, también por encarnar al personaje de Merle Dixon en la serie de televisión The Walking Dead y en los últimos años por darle vida a Yondu Udonta en las películas Guardianes de la Galaxia y Guardianes de la Galaxia Vol. 2.

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[ru] Рукер, Майкл

Майкл Ру́кер (англ. Michael Rooker, род. 6 апреля 1955, Алабама, США) — американский киноактёр, продюсер. Первую известность получил после выхода фильма «Генри: портрет серийного убийцы», в котором сыграл главную роль. Позже прославился благодаря ролям Мерла Диксона в сериале «Ходячие мертвецы», Йонду в фильмах «Стражи Галактики» и «Стражи Галактики: часть 2» и Эдварда Хойта в сериале «Настоящий детектив».

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