Michael Shanks

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Michael Shanks
Michael Shanks.jpg
Biographical information
Birth name Michael Garrett Shanks
Birth date (1970-12-15) December 15, 1970 (age 53)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Nationality Canadian
Information about family
Children Tatiana (daughter with Vaitiare Bandera),
Mia Tabitha,
Samuel David (with Lexa Doig)
Professional information
Occupations Actor,
Writer,
Director
Stargate-related information
Related series Stargate SG-1
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Stargate: Continuum
Stargate Universe
Occupations Actor,
Writer,
Director
Characters Daniel Jackson,
Thor (voice),
Ma'chello

Michael Garrett Shanks (born December 15, 1970) is a Canadian actor who achieved international fame for his role as Dr. Daniel Jackson in the long-running Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1.

Early life[edit | edit source]

Shanks grew up in Kamloops, British Columbia. After graduating from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre in 1994, he appeared 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, appeared in the TV movie A Family Divided and had a small role in The Call of the Wild, before winning the role of Daniel Jackson on Stargate SG-1.

Career[edit | edit source]

Stargate[edit | edit source]

Shanks played archaeologist Dr. Daniel Jackson throughout the first five seasons of Stargate SG-1 before leaving the show, citing creative differences concerning the under-use of his character and the direction of the show as a whole.[1] He made several guest appearances throughout the sixth season playing his own character, as well as voicing the Asgard character Thor. Shanks returned for the seventh and subsequent seasons, winning the Leo Award for Best Lead Performance By A Male in a Dramatic Series in 2004 for the seventh season episode "Lifeboat".[2] During the series' tenth and final season, he signed up for 16 of the 20 episodes, taking some time off in March 2006 for the birth of his third child (second with wife and occasional co-star Lexa Doig).

He appeared in both direct-to-DVD Stargate films released in 2008, Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum, and won the 2009 Leo Award for Lead Performance by a Male in a Feature Length Drama for Continuum.[3]

In 2004, Shanks made a crossover appearance (as Daniel Jackson) in the Stargate Atlantis pilot, "Rising". He also appeared in the tenth and eleventh episodes of Atlantis' fifth and final season,[4] and made a cameo appearance in the pilot of the third Stargate series Stargate Universe. He also appeared in the episodes "Human" and "Subversion".[5]

Personal life[edit | edit source]

Shanks' eldest child is daughter Tatiana (b. August 1998). She was conceived from his relationship with model and actress Vaitiare Bandera, who portrayed Sha're, his character's wife, on Stargate SG-1.

On August 2, 2003, Shanks married actress Lexa Doig, whom he met in 2001 while guest-starring on the series Andromeda, in which she starred. (They would also work together on Stargate SG-1, when Doig was cast as Dr. Carolyn Lam, a recurring character in seasons nine and ten.) They have two children together: daughter Mia Tabitha Shanks (b. September 13, 2004) and son Samuel David Shanks (b. March 19, 2006).

Shanks enjoys playing ice hockey, and once considered playing professionally. He was on the Stargate SG-1 hockey team, competing against the teams of other Vancouver-based productions such as Smallville, and also displayed his aptitude for the sport in the 2006 TV movie Under the Mistletoe, in which he played the part of a school hockey coach.

Involvement in the Stargate universe[edit | edit source]

Actor[edit | edit source]

Filmography[edit | edit source]

Film, Television and Video Games
Year Title Role Notes
2013 Elysium Film, post-production
2013 13 Eerie Tomkins Film, completed
2012 Saving Hope Dr. Charlie Harris TV series, 13 episodes
2012 Belyy tigr Film (as Maykl Shenks)
2011 Captain Starship Brock Hunter TV series
2011 Flashpoint David Fleming TV series, 1 episode
2011 The Pastor's Wife Matthew Winkler TV movie
2011 Christmas Lodge Jack TV movie
2011 Faces in the Crowd Bryce Film
2011 Tactical Force Demetrius Film
2011 Endgame Casey Roman TV series, 1 episode
2011 Red Riding Hood Adrien Lazar Film
2010 Smallville Carter Hall / Hawkman TV series, 4 episodes
2010 Tower Prep Dr. Literature TV series, 1 episode
2010 The Good Guys Capt. Shaw TV series, 1 episode
2009-2010 SGU Stargate Universe Dr. Daniel Jackson TV series, 4 episodes
2010 Arctic Blast Jack Tate Film
2010 Supernatural Rob TV series, 1 episode
2010 Mr. Young Mr. Lewis TV series, 1 episode
2009 Sanctuary Jimmy TV series, 1 episode
2009 Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods - Final Cut Dr. Daniel Jackson Video, recut of "Children of the Gods"
2009 Living Out Loud Brad Marshall TV movie
2008-2009 Burn Notice Victor TV series, 4 episodes
2009 Desperate Escape Michael Coleman TV movie
2008 The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon Jacob Thain TV movie
2004-2008 Stargate Atlantis Dr. Daniel Jackson Tv series, 3 episodes
2008 Stargate: Continuum Daniel Jackson Video
2008 Stargate: The Ark of Truth Dr. Daniel Jackson Video
2007 Eureka Christopher Dactylos TV series, 1 episode
2007 Mega Snake Les Daniels TV movie
2007 24 Mark Bishop TV series, 3 episodes
2007 Judicial Indiscretion Jack Sullivan TV movie
1997-2007 Stargate SG-1 Dr. Daniel Jackson / Thor / Ma'chello / ... TV series, 197 episodes
2006 Under the Mistletoe Kevin Harrison TV movie
2005 CSI: Miami Doug Stets TV series, 1 episode
2005 Swarmed Kent Horvath TV movie
2001-2003 :Andromeda Balance of Judgment / Gabriel / Remiel TV series, 2 episodes
2003 Sumuru Adam Wade Film
2002 The Twilight Zone Donnie TV series, 1 episode
2002 The Chris Isaak Show Trevor TV series, 1 episode
2002 Door to Door John TV movie
2002 All Around the Town Justin Donnelly TV movie
2001 Suddenly Naked Danny Blair/Donny Blitzer Film
2000 Suspicious River Ball Cap Man Film
1998-2000 The Outer Limits Dr. Will Olsten / Melburn Ross TV series, 2 episodes
2000 Mr. Fortune's Smile James Film
2000 The Artist's Circle Artist Short
1999 Escape from Mars Bill Malone, Mission Architect TV movie
1997 The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon Fellow Gambler #1 TV movie
1995 University Hospital Jake TV series, 1 episode
1995 A Family Divided Todd TV movie
1994 Madison Gordon TV series, 1 episode
1993 The Commish Sean TV series, 1 episode
1993 Highlander Jesse Collins TV series, 1 episode

Notes[edit | edit source]

Shanks has won 2 awards, out of 9 nominations.

Year Award Category Work Result
2000 Leo Award Best Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series Stargate SG-1 - "Forever in a Day" Nominated
2001 Saturn Award Best Supporting Actor on Television Stargate SG-1 Nominated
2003 Leo Award Best Male Guest Performance Stargate SG-1 - "Abyss" Nominated
2004 Leo Award Dramatic Series: Best Lead Performance by a Male Stargate SG-1 - "Lifeboat" Won
2004 Saturn award Best Actor in a Television Series Stargate SG-1 Nominated
2005 Leo Award Dramatic Series: Best Lead Performance by a Male Stargate SG-1 - "Threads" Nominated
2005 Saturn Award Best Supporting Actor on Television Stargate SG-1 Nominated
2009 Leo Award Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Feature Length Drama Stargate: Continuum Won
2010 Leo Award Best Guest Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series Sanctuary - "Penance" Nominated

References[edit | edit source]

Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Michael Shanks . The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Semantic Stargate Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0).