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.