Biography
Michael Rooker is an American actor. Born on 6 April 1955 in Jasper, Alabama, he studied at the Goodman School of Drama at DePaul University in Chicago.
He first came to prominence for the title role in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986). Subsequent film roles include Eight Men Out (1988), Mississippi Burning (1988), Sea of Love (1989), Days of Thunder (1990), JFK (1991), Cliffhanger (1993), Tombstone (1993), Mallrats (1995), The Bone Collector (1999), Jumper (2008) and F9 (2021). He played Merle Dixon in the AMC series The Walking Dead (2010–2013).
Rooker is known for portraying Yondu Udonta in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), and has appeared in several films directed by James Gunn, including Slither (2006), Super (2010) and The Suicide Squad (2021). He played Sgt. Major Thomas Riordan in Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024).
