Michael Shanks

Michael Shanks is a Canadian-born TV actor, writer, and director best known for his role as archeologist Dr. Daniel Jackson on the popular science fiction series "Stargate SG-1." A Vancouver native, Shanks earned his BFA in theater from the University of British Columbia and apprenticed at Ontario's famed Stratford Shakespearean Festival. In the early 1990s, as Shanks entered the film and television industry, many syndicated and cable television series were filmed in Canada as a result of the country's comparatively low production costs; Shanks soon began appearing on Canadian-made TV series like "Highlander," based on the popular 1986 action film and its sequels, and reboots of the classic science-fiction anthologies "The Outer Limits" and "The Twilight Zone" before gaining his breakout role on "Stargate SG-1" in 1997.

Shanks's character, Dr. Daniel Jackson, was an Egyptologist who joined the Stargate team as an archaeologist and translator. A major character for the show's first five seasons, Shanks left the series in 2002, but returned as a full cast member after only one season off and continued in the role until the show finally ended in 2007. Following the end of "Stargate SG-1," Shanks appeared as a corrupt Washington lobbyist in the sixth season of the action drama "24" and as an antagonist to disgraced former spy Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) in the stylish espionage series "Burn Notice."