<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Michael Shanks (middle name Garrett) was born in Vancouver, BC, Canada on December 15, 1970, the younger of two brothers. He grew up in Kamloops, British Columbia. Shanks has described himself as "some kind of overachiever" at school: he played defense in hockey, fly-half and later wing in rugby, and was a member of the student council. His start in acting came when he also joined the theater group as an actor and director.

A career in professional hockey was a possibility but, at 16, Shanks decided not to pursue that route, instead enrolling in the University of British Columbia to study business, financing his studies by taking laboring and lumberjack work. Difficulties with a calculus course led to a change in majors, and Michael returned to acting, graduating in 1994 with a degree in fine arts.

While studying acting at the university, Shanks performed in a number of plays, including Love's Labours Lost, Love of the Nightingale, Wait Until Dark, and Translations.

Shanks has stated that one of the factors in his decision to become an actor was coming across a location shoot for MacGyver, which starred Richard Dean Anderson, with whom he would eventually work on Stargate SG-1.

After graduating from the University of British Columbia, Shanks spent two years at the Stratford Festival (Ontario), where he performed in productions of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, Macbeth, King Lear, and The Merchant of Venice, and in a production of Amadeus.

Following a number of small roles in TV shows such as Madison, The Commish, and Highlander: The Series, in 1997 Shanks auditioned for the role of Daniel Jackson on Stargate SG-1, the TV spin-off of the original Stargate movie, which starred Kurt Russell and James Spader. Shanks went into the audition with his spot-on impersonation of James Spader (who had played Daniel Jackson in the movie) and got the job.

During the summer of 1998 (while Stargate SG-1 was on hiatus), Shanks performed the lead role in a Vancouver-based production of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

After five seasons of Stargate SG-1, Shanks left the series, citing lack of use of the character of Daniel Jackson as the reason behind his decision. A fan campaign to return Shanks (and Daniel Jackson) to the series - Save Daniel Jackson - started when it was revealed that he was leaving. A year later it was announced that Shanks would return as a full-time member of the cast for season seven.

During his break from Stargate SG-1 as a regular cast member Shanks had a number of acting roles. He appeared in the independent movies Suddenly Naked with Wendy Crewson and Suspicious River with Molly Parker and Callum Keith Rennie, Mary Higgins Clark's All Around the Town, and in the Emmy Award-winning Door to Door, starring William H. Macy, Helen Mirren and Kyra Sedgwick. Shanks also did a number of guest appearances on tv series such as "The Outer Limits" and "Andromeda", and also starred as Adam Wade in the reworking of Max Rohmer's Sumuru, filmed in South Africa.

Although not part of the main cast of Stargate SG-1 during season six, Shanks did reprise the role of Daniel Jackson in three episodes — "Abyss," "The Changeling" (written by close friend and SG-1 co-star Christopher Judge), and "Full Circle." He also continued to voice the Asgard character Thor.

While appearing as Daniel Jackson during seasons seven through ten of Stargate SG-1, Shanks made guest appearances in the SG-1 spin-off Stargate Atlantis and CSI: Miami. During the mid-season filming hiatus in 2006 he completed the Lifetime Network movie Under The Mistletoe, and at the end of filming for the tenth and final season of Stargate SG-1 he flew to Bulgaria to film MegaSnake, his second monster movie for the SCI FI Channel. (His first SCI FI Channel movie, Swarmed, was completed in 2003.) Immediately upon his return to the United States, he began work on a second movie for Lifetime, Judicial Indiscretion, which co-starred Academy Award nominee Anne Archer.

In early 2007, Shanks landed a three-episode recurring role on Fox Channel's 24, as Mark Bishop, before returning to the Stargate SG-1 studios to film the two straight-to-DVD movies, Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum. More recently he has appeared in the SciFi Channel's series Eureka.

During his years on Stargate SG-1, Shanks also directed and wrote for the show. His directorial debut was the complex Season 4 episode "Double Jeopardy". In Season 7, Shanks further stretched his creativity by writing the episode "Resurrection" and co-writing the episode "Evolution, Part 1."

In 2006, Shanks, along with his friend and co-star, Christopher Judge, formed Slacktwaddle Productions. Their first creation was the 2007 Women of Sci-Fi calendar, with a Men of Sci-Fi calendar planned for 2008. Both actors are also slated to be executive producers—and to star in—a series written by Christopher Judge called Rage of Angels, with Shanks to appear as Lucifer opposite Judge's character, Gabriel. Currently the project has received a verbal greenlight from production partner MGM.

Shanks has a daughter, Tatiana, born in 1998 to his former partner, Vaitiare Bandera (Sha're in Stargate SG-1). In August 2003, he married Lexa Doig, whom he met on the set of Andromeda when he guest-starred as Gabriel, in the episode "Starcrossed." On September 13, 2004, Lexa gave birth to their daughter, Mia Tabitha. In early March 2006, Michael and Lexa welcomed their son, Samuel David, into the world.

Award Nominations and Wins

2000—Nominated for a Leo Award for Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series (for the Stargate SG-1 episode "Forever in a Day")

2001—Nominated for a Saturn Award as Best Supporting Actor on Television

2003—Nominated for a Leo Award for Best Male Guest Performance for the Stargate SG-1 episode "Abyss"

2004—Nominated for a Saturn Award as Best Lead Actor in a Television Series

2004—Won the Leo Award for Best Lead Performance By A Male in a Dramatic Series (for the Stargate SG-1 episode "Lifeboat")

2005—Nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series

2005—Nominated for a Leo Award for Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series (for the Stargate SG-1 episode "Threads")

External Links

Michael Shanks Online - The Official Michael Shanks Website

Michael Shanks on the Internet Movie Database

Michael Shanks Discussion List

Michael Shanks website at TWTID

Michael Shanks Webring

Save Daniel Jackson

SciFi Stargate Forum Daniel Jackson/Michael Shanks Appreciation thread

Shanktafied

Shamelessly Shanks

Michael Shanks Interviews