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).

Known For: Acting

Born: Jasper, Alabama, USA, 1955-04-06

Died: null

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1986	Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer	Henry	67
2	1987	Light of Day	Oogie	55
3	1987	Rent-a-Cop	Joe	47
4	1988	Retreads		20
5	1988	Above the Law	Man in Bar	61
6	1988	Eight Men Out	Chick Gandil	69
7	1988	Mississippi Burning	Frank Bailey	77
8	1989	L.A. Takedown	Bosko	55
9	1989	Sea of Love	Terry	66
10	1989	Music Box	Karchy Laszlo	71
11	1990	Days of Thunder	Rowdy Burns	64
12	1991	JFK	Bill Broussard	76
13	1992	Afterburn	Casey 'Z' Zankowski	36
14	1993	The Dark Half	Sheriff Alan Pangborn	60
15	1993	Cliffhanger	Hal Tucker	65
16	1993	Tombstone	Sherman McMasters	76
17	1994	Suspicious	Attendet	35
18	1994	The Hard Truth	Jonah Mantz	33
19	1995	Johnny and Clyde	Frank Tennant	25
20	1995	Mallrats	Svenning	68
21	1996	American Yakuza II	Bob Malone	54
22	1996	The Trigger Effect	Gary	58
23	1996	Bastard Out of Carolina	Uncle Earle	71
24	1997	Meet Wally Sparks	Michael Rooker	47
25	1997	Rosewood	Sheriff Walker	65
26	1997	Keys to Tulsa	Keith Michaels	47
27	1997	Song of Hiawatha	Bertrand	60
28	1997	Deceiver	Detective Edward Kennesaw	59
29	1998	The Replacement Killers	Stan 'Zeedo' Zedkov	62
30	1998	Brown's Requiem	Fritz Brown	45
31	1998	Shadow Builder	Father Vassey	47
32	1998	Renegade Force	Matt Cooper	57
33	1999	The Bone Collector	Captain Howard Cheney	68
34	1999	Wicked Ways	Matt Draper / Dr. Matthew Swan	56
35	2000	Table One	Rowdy	23
36	2000	Here on Earth	Malcolm Arnold	58
37	2000	Newsbreak	John McNamara	20
38	2000	The 6th Day	Robert Marshall	60
39	2001	Replicant	Jake	58
40	2002	Undisputed	A.J. Mercker	65
41	2002	The Outer Limits: The New Series - Time Travel and Infinity	Colonel Beckett	60
42	2003	The Box - 2003	Detective Stafford	41
43	2003	On Thin Ice	Roger Hopkins	52
44	2003	Saving Jessica Lynch	Colonel Curry	41
45	2004	Skeleton Man	Captain Leary	32
46	2004	The Eliminator		42
47	2005	Chasing Ghosts	Mark Spencer	55
48	2005	Erection of an Epic - The Making of Mallrats	Himself	20
49	2005	Portrait: The Making of Henry	Self	63
50	2006	Repo! The Genetic Opera		35
51	2006	Lenexa, 1 Mile	Russ	33
52	2006	Slither	Grant Grant	65
53	2007	Whisper	Sydney Braverman	64
54	2008	Jumper	William Rice	62
55	2008	This Man's Life	Richard Crummly	20
56	2008	Humanzee!	Priest	46
57	2009	Super Capers	Judge / Dark Winged Vesper	38
58	2009	Penance	Mann	37
59	2009	Meteor	Calvin Stark	20
60	2009	Freeway Killer	Det. St. John	49
61	2009	The Marine 2	Church	60
62	2010	Matadors	John Canterna	60
63	2010	Louis	Pat McMurphy	35
64	2010	Blood Done Sign My Name	Defense attorney Billy Watkins	56
65	2010	DC Showcase: Jonah Hex	Red Doc (voice)	70
66	2010	The Making of The Walking Dead	Self	80
67	2010	Atlantis Down	Father / Alien	26
68	2010	DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection	Red Doc (segment "Jonah Hex") (voice)	71
69	2010	Super	Abe	65
70	2011	Cell 213	Ray Clement	51
71	2012	Rogue River	Gas Attendent	48
72	2012	Hypothermia	Ray Pelletier	39
73	2012	Pennhurst	Dr. Death	28
74	2013	Brother's Keeper	Chief Carver	54
75	2014	Guardians of the Galaxy	Yondu Udonta	79
76	2017	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	Yondu	76
77	2017	Life After Flash	Self	57
78	2021	Clerk	Self	60
79	2021	The Suicide Squad	Savant	75
80	2022	Corrective Measures	Warden Devlin	50
81	2022	The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special	Yondu	71
82	2023	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3	Yondu	79
83	2024	Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1	Sgt. Major Thomas Riordan	69
84		Road Rage	Stony	0
85	2011	Mysteria	Captain McCarthy	42
86	2014	Elwood	Condello	15
87	2014	The Driving Dead	Trooper	20
88	2014	The Sparrows Are Flying Again! - The Making of the Dark Half	Himself	20
89	2014	Guide to the Galaxy with James Gunn	Self	75
90	2016	The Belko Experiment	Bud Melks	61
91	2017	Guardians Inferno		20
92	2017	The Robot Chicken Walking Dead Special: Look Who's Walking	Merle Dixon / Lucille's Father (voice)	72
93	2019	Bolden	Pat McMurphy	43
94	2019	Brightburn	The Big T	61
95	2020	The Dark Tower	Elred Jonas	20
96	2020	The Golden Hour: Making of Days of Thunder	Self	70
97	2020	Love and Monsters	Clyde	73
98	2021	F9	Buddy	70
99	2022	White Elephant	Gabriel Tancredi	59
100	2024	Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2	Sgt. Major Riordan	72
101		The Underneath: In Fortune's Shadow	The Man with the Answers	0
102	2020	Fantasy Island	Damon	58
103	2021	Renegades: The Bad Boys of NASCAR	Self	20
104	2021	Vivo	Lutador (voice)	73
105	2023	Fast X	Buddy (uncredited)	70
106	2023	The Out-Laws	Agent Oldham	60
107		Pig Village	Steve	0
108	2025	Superman	Superman Robot #5 (voice)	0

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1985	The Equalizer	Bill Whitaker	72
2	1986	Crime Story	Lieutenant	79
3	1989	Gideon Oliver	Detective John Quinn	55
4	1990	Law & Order	Jamie Yost	74
5	1993	Fallen Angels	Babe McCloor	59
6	1995	The Outer Limits	Colonel Beckett	77
7	1997	Stargate SG-1	Colonel Edwards	83
8	2001	Crossing Jordan	Shawn Curaco	72
9	2002	CSI: Miami	Marty Jones	77
10	2003	Tremors	Kinney	60
11	2003	Las Vegas		70
12	2005	Criminal Minds	Chief Carlson	83
13	2006	Thief	Detective John Hayes	67
14	2006	Psych	Garth Lawnmore	79
15	2006	Shark		68
16	2007	Burn Notice	Dale Lawson	75
17	2007	Chuck	Mauser	77
18	2009	Meteor	Calvin Stark	63
19	2009	Archer	Sheriff E. Z. Ponder (voice)	80
20	2010	The Walking Dead	Merle Dixon	81
21	2011	Talking Dead	Self	73
22	2014	True Detective	Edward Hoyt	83
23	2015	CelebriD&D	Arnold	10
24	2016	Ride with Norman Reedus	Self	73
25	2016	Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed	Self	0
26	2017	SEAL Team	Big Chief	80
27	2018	The Rookie	Frank Teska	85
28	2019	The Righteous Gemstones	Cobb Milsap	74
29	2019	Creepshow	Beau	75
30	2020	Dead Talk Live	Self - Guest	90
31	2021	Marvel Studios Legends	Yondu Udonta (archive footage) (uncredited)	74
32	2021	What If...?	Yondu (voice)	81
33	2021	What If...?	Yondu Udonta (voice)	81
34	2024	Creature Commandos	Sam (voice)	79

Michael Rooker

Film

Television