My Take
Michael Rooker is one of those actors who makes every scene he's in just a little bit more dangerous, and I mean that as the highest compliment. The guy from Jasper, Alabama went to DePaul and came out the other side with this raw, unpredictable intensity that Hollywood can't manufacture — you either have it or you don't. His turn in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is genuinely unsettling even decades later, and then he somehow pivoted to being weirdly lovable as Merle Dixon on The Walking Dead, the kind of racist redneck you hate but can't look away from. And Yondu in the Guardians of the Galaxy films? That blue-finned space pirate with a heart of gold absolutely wrecked me emotionally. Rooker has this gift for making morally complicated men feel achingly human, and not enough people give him his flowers for it.
Overview
Michael Rooker (born April 6, 1955) is an American actor. 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), and its sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017).
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Michael Rooker
- Name (Japanese)
- マイケル・ルーカー
- Reading
- まいける・るーかー
- Born
- April 6, 1955 (age 71)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aries / Goat
- Origin
- Jasper, Alabama, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / film actor / television actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Wells Community Academy High School
- University
- DePaul University
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.