Know Your “That Guy”: Michael Rooker
Michael Rooker
Born: April 6, 1955
Number of Roles: 103
Best Known for Playing: Horrible, usually racist, criminals and murderers
First Appearance: Lieutenant on Crime Story (1986)
Most Recent Appearance: Merle Dixon on The Walking Dead (2010)
Notable Roles:
- Rowdy Burns in Days of Thunder
- Hal Tucker in Cliffhanger
- Henry in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
- Man in Bar in Above the Law
- Frank Bailey in Mississippi Burning
- Bill Broussard in JFK
- Sherman McMasters in Tombstone
- Captain Howard Cheney in The Bone Collector
- Col. Beckett on The Outer Limits “Patient Zero”
- Grant Grant in Slither
- Det. John Hayes on Thief
- Dale Lawson on Burn Notice
- Abe in Super
- Church in The Marine 2
- Robert Marshall in The 6th Day
Fun Facts
- Studied Akido Martial Arts
- Worked with all the major 80’s action stars, Arnold in The 6th Day, Stallone in Cliffhanger, Van Damme in Replicant and Seagal in Above the Law.
- Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer was Rooker’s official first movie, filmed in 1986, but it wasn’t released until 1990 due to it’s controversial nature.