Michael Rooker
Michael Rooker (born April 6, 1955) is an American actor who mainly plays roles of antagonists. He first rose to prominence for portraying the titular role in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) and is best known for starring as Merle Dixon in the AMC series The Walking Dead (2010–2013) and as Yondu Udonta in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), followed by its sequels Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). He is a recurring collaborator of Guardians of the Galaxy director and co-CEO of DC Studios, James Gunn, appearing in all of his films to date, including Slither (2006), Super (2010), and The Suicide Squad (2021). Rooker's other notable roles include Chick Gandil in Eight Men Out (1988), Frank Bailey 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 Edward Kennesaw in Deceiver (1997), Detective Howard Cheney in The Bone Collector (1999), Detective Jake Riley in Replicant (2001), and Buddy in F9 (2021). Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Rooker, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Credits
- 2025 · Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2 as Sgt. Major Riordan
- 2024 · Creature Commandos as Sam (voice)
- 2024 · Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 as Sgt. Major Thomas Riordan
- 2023 · The Out-Laws as Agent Oldham
- 2023 · Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as Yondu
- 2022 · The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special as Yondu
- 2022 · White Elephant as Gabriel Tancredi
- 2022 · Corrective Measures as Warden Devlin
- 2021 · What If...? as Yondu (voice)
- 2021 · What If...? as Yondu Udonta (voice)
- 2021 · Vivo as Lutador (voice)
- 2021 · The Suicide Squad as Savant
- 2021 · Renegades: The Bad Boys of NASCAR as Self
- 2021 · F9 as Buddy
- 2021 · Clerk as Self
- 2021 · Marvel Studios Legends as Yondu Udonta (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2020 · Love and Monsters as Clyde
- 2020 · The Golden Hour: Making of Days of Thunder as Self
- 2020 · Dead Talk Live as Self - Guest
- 2020 · Fantasy Island as Damon
- 2019 · Creepshow as Beau
- 2019 · Brightburn as The Big T
- 2019 · Bolden as Pat McMurphy
- 2018 · The Rookie as Frank Teska
- 2017 · The Robot Chicken Walking Dead Special: Look Who's Walking as Merle Dixon / Lucille's Father (voice)
- 2017 · Life After Flash as Self
- 2017 · SEAL Team as Big Chief
- 2017 · Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as Yondu
- 2016 · Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed as Self
- 2016 · Ride with Norman Reedus as Self
- 2016 · The Belko Experiment as Bud Melks
- 2015 · CelebriD&D as Arnold
- 2014 · Guide to the Galaxy with James Gunn as Self
- 2014 · The Sparrows Are Flying Again! - The Making of the Dark Half as Himself
- 2014 · The Driving Dead as Trooper
- 2014 · Guardians of the Galaxy as Yondu Udonta
- 2014 · True Detective as Edward Hoyt
- 2013 · Brother's Keeper as Chief Carver
- 2012 · Pennhurst as Dr. Death
- 2012 · Hypothermia as Ray Pelletier
- 2012 · Rogue River as Gas Attendent
- 2011 · Mysteria as Captain McCarthy
- 2011 · Talking Dead as Self
- 2011 · Cell 213 as Ray Clement
- 2010 · Super as Abe
- 2010 · DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection as Red Doc (segment "Jonah Hex") (voice)
- 2010 · The Walking Dead as Merle Dixon
- 2010 · Atlantis Down as Father / Alien
- 2010 · The Making of The Walking Dead as Self
- 2010 · DC Showcase: Jonah Hex as Red Doc (voice)
- 2010 · Blood Done Sign My Name as Defense attorney Billy Watkins
- 2010 · Louis as Pat McMurphy
- 2010 · Matadors as John Canterna
- 2009 · The Marine 2 as Church
- 2009 · Freeway Killer as Det. St. John
- 2009 · Archer as Sheriff E. Z. Ponder (voice)
- 2009 · Meteor as Calvin Stark
- 2009 · Penance as Mann
- 2009 · Super Capers as Judge / Dark Winged Vesper
- 2008 · Humanzee! as Priest
- 2008 · This Man's Life as Richard Crummly
- 2008 · Jumper as William Rice
- 2007 · Whisper as Sydney Braverman
- 2007 · Chuck as Mauser
- 2007 · Burn Notice as Dale Lawson
- 2006 · Shark as
- 2006 · Psych as Garth Lawnmore
- 2006 · Slither as Grant Grant
- 2006 · Thief as Detective John Hayes
- 2006 · Lenexa, 1 Mile as Russ
- 2005 · Portrait: The Making of Henry as Self
- 2005 · Criminal Minds as Chief Carlson
- 2005 · Erection of an Epic - The Making of Mallrats as Himself
- 2005 · Chasing Ghosts as Mark Spencer
- 2004 · The Eliminator as
- 2004 · Skeleton Man as Captain Leary
- 2003 · Saving Jessica Lynch as Colonel Curry
- 2003 · On Thin Ice as Roger Hopkins
- 2003 · Las Vegas as
- 2003 · Tremors as Kinney
- 2002 · CSI: Miami as Marty Jones
- 2002 · Undisputed as A.J. Mercker
- 2001 · Crossing Jordan as Shawn Curaco
- 2001 · Replicant as Jake
- 2000 · The 6th Day as Robert Marshall
- 2000 · Newsbreak as John McNamara
- 1999 · The Bone Collector as Captain Howard Cheney
- 1998 · The Replacement Killers as Stan 'Zeedo' Zedkov
- 1997 · Deceiver as Detective Edward Kennesaw
- 1997 · Stargate SG-1 as Colonel Edwards
- 1996 · The Trigger Effect as Gary
- 1995 · Mallrats as Svenning
- 1995 · The Outer Limits as Colonel Beckett
- 1995 · Johnny and Clyde as Frank Tennant
- 1994 · The Hard Truth as Jonah Mantz
- 1993 · Tombstone as Sherman McMasters
- 1993 · Fallen Angels as Babe McCloor
- 1993 · Cliffhanger as Hal Tucker
- 1993 · The Dark Half as Sheriff Alan Pangborn
- 1991 · JFK as Bill Broussard
- 1990 · Law & Order as Jamie Yost
- 1990 · Days of Thunder as Rowdy Burns
- 1989 · Music Box as Karchy Laszlo
- 1989 · Sea of Love as Terry
- 1988 · Mississippi Burning as Frank Bailey
- 1988 · Above the Law as Man in Bar
- 1986 · Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer as Henry
- 1986 · Crime Story as Lieutenant
- 1985 · The Equalizer as Bill Whitaker
- Future · Meteor as Calvin Stark
- 2003 · The Box - 2003 as Detective Stafford
- 2000 · Table One as Rowdy
- 1994 · Suspicious as Attendet
- 1992 · Afterburn as Casey 'Z' Zankowski
- Future · Road Rage as Stony
- Future · The Underneath: In Fortune's Shadow as The Man with the Answers
- 2002 · The Outer Limits: The New Series - Time Travel and Infinity as Colonel Beckett
- 2000 · Here on Earth as Malcolm Arnold
- 1999 · Wicked Ways as Matt Draper / Dr. Matthew Swan
- 1998 · Renegade Force as Matt Cooper
- 1998 · Shadow Builder as Father Vassey
- 1998 · Brown's Requiem as Fritz Brown
- 1997 · Song of Hiawatha as Bertrand
- 1997 · Keys to Tulsa as Keith Michaels
- 1997 · Rosewood as Sheriff Walker
- 1997 · Meet Wally Sparks as Michael Rooker
- 1996 · Bastard Out of Carolina as Uncle Earle
- 1996 · Back to Back as Bob Malone
- 1989 · L.A. Takedown as Bosko
- 1989 · Gideon Oliver as Detective John Quinn
- 1988 · Eight Men Out as Chick Gandil
- 1988 · Retreads as
- 1987 · Rent-a-Cop as Joe
- 1987 · Light of Day as Oogie