Michael Rooker Biography (2)
Rooker received high praise for his striking performance in the critically acclaimed Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer. He also received kudos for his roles as baseball great Chick Gandil in John Sayles' Eight Men Out, as a brutish KKK member in Alan Parker's Mississippi Burning, as the blue-collar brother in Costa Gavras' Music Box and as a race car driver in Tony Scott's Days of Thunder, with Tom Cruise. Rooker also gave memorable performances in John Singleton's Rosewood; George Cosmatos' Tombstone; Harold Becker's Sea of Love, with Al Pacino; the Pate Brothers' Deceiver; and The Replacement Killers for Columbia Pictures.
Born in Jasper, Alabama, Rooker moved with his family to Chicago in the mid-1960s. He studied the Japanese art of Aikido and earned his BFA from the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago. After graduating in 1982, he quickly began to make a name for himself in the Chicago theatrical community, appearing in Union Boys, The Crack Walker and The Hostage, among other plays. He also appeared in Beth Henley's off-Broadway production, Abundance.
Recently, Rooker added the title of producer to his list of credits with A Table For One, in which he also stars opposite Rebecca DeMornay. Rooker also produced Brown's Requiem, based on a James Ellroy novel.
Rooker recently completed work on The Replicant, starring opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme.
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