Michael Shanks

Michael Shanks
Birth name	Michael Garrett Shanks
Born	December 15 1970 (age 37) Vancouver, British Columbia  Canada
Spouse(s)	Lexa Doig (2003 - present)

Michael Garrett Shanks (born December 15, 1970 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian actor who achieved fame for his role as Dr. Daniel Jackson on the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. He also provided the voice of the recurring character Thor on the same series.

Biography

Early life

After graduating from the University of British Columbia with a B.A. in Fine Arts in 1994, Shanks played in several stage productions, serving a two year apprenticeship with the prestigious Stratford Festival in Ontario. He made guest appearances on TV series like Highlander, University Hospital, and The Outer Limits. He also played in the TV movie A Family Divided and The Call of the Wild before accepting his role in Stargate SG-1.

Career

Shanks played Daniel Jackson throughout the first five seasons of the series before leaving the show, apparently citing creative differences concerning the underuse of his character. He made several guest appearances throughout the sixth season (also working with wife Lexa Doig on Andromeda), playing his own character and voicing the Asgard character Thor. A fan campaign (Save Daniel Jackson) followed. He returned for the seventh and subsequent seasons. He only signed up for 16 of the 20 episodes in the tenth season, taking some time off in late March 2006 for the birth of his third child (second with fellow actress Lexa Doig).

In 2002, he starred in the German/UK/South African co-production Sumuru, a science fiction movie, as the astronaut Adam Wade. He also auditioned for the role of Shinzon in Star Trek: Nemesis and was a fan favorite to play the role of Tobin Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (although it is unknown if he was ever actually approached for the role). He made a crossover appearance in the Stargate Atlantis pilot.

On March 12, 2007, it was announced that he had joined the Fox Network show 24 as Michael Bishop in a 4 episode arc for season 6.

Private life

On August 2, 2003, Shanks married actress Lexa Doig, and on September 13, 2004 they welcomed a daughter, Mia Tabitha. In March 2006, they welcomed a son, Samuel David. Shanks also has another daughter, Tatiana, born in 1998 from his relationship with model and actress Vaitiare Bandera.

His best friend is also his Stargate SG-1 co-star Christopher Judge who plays the role of the Jaffa teammate, Teal'c.

Filmography

Starring roles

Guest-starring roles

Director

Writer

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