Michael Garrett Shanks (b. December 15, 1970, 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.
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.
Shanks played archaeologist Dr. Daniel Jackson throughout the first five seasons of Stargate SG-1 before leaving the show, apparently citing creative differences concerning the underuse of his character. He made several guest appearances throughout the sixth season, playing his own character and continuing to voice the Asgard character Thor. An enthusiastic fan campaign (Save Daniel Jackson) followed, and he returned for the seventh and subsequent seasons, winning a Leo Award for Best Lead Performance By A Male in a Dramatic Series in 2004 for the seventh season episode "Lifeboat". 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 wife and occasional co-star Lexa Doig).
In 2004, Shanks made a crossover appearance (as Daniel Jackson) in the Stargate Atlantis pilot, 'Rising'. He is also set to appear in the tenth and eleventh episodes of Atlantis' fifth and final season.
In 2002, Shanks 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: Enterprise (although it is unknown if he was ever actually approached for the role).
In 2007, Shanks joined the Fox Network series 24, guest-starring as lobbyist Mark Bishop in a 3-episode arc for season 6.
In 2008, Shanks guest-starred in the first of his four planned episodes of the USA Network spy series Burn Notice.
On August 2, 2003, Shanks married actress Lexa Doig, whom he met in 2001 while guest-starring on the series Andromeda, in which Doig played the titular character. (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' eldest child is daughter Tatiana (b. 1998), from his relationship with model and actress Vaitiare Bandera, who portrayed Sha're, his character's wife, on Stargate SG-1.
