Michael Shannon
Personal details
  • Born:
    • Birthday: 1974-08-07
    • Born Place: Lexington, Kentucky, USA
  • Also Known As:

    Mike Shannon, Michael Corbett Shannon

Michael Shannon

Michael Corbett Shannon is a highly respected American actor, producer, and musician known for his intense, often brooding, and deeply committed performances across film, television, and theatre. Born on August 7, 1974, in Lexington, Kentucky, he began his career on the stage in Chicago, co-founding A Red Orchid Theatre and working extensively with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, which grounded him in dramatic performance. He has built a prolific film career with both mainstream blockbusters and independent, critically acclaimed projects, earning two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor for Revolutionary Road (2008) and Nocturnal Animals (2016). Shannon is a frequent collaborator with director Jeff Nichols, starring in acclaimed indie dramas like Take Shelter (2011), and is widely recognizable for his major roles such as the Kryptonian villain General Zod in the DC Extended Universe and Colonel Richard Strickland in the Oscar-winning film The Shape of Water (2017). On television, he is renowned for his role as the morally conflicted Agent Nelson Van Alden in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014) and, most recently, as George Jones in the miniseries George & Tammy (2022). He is also set to star as Robert H. Jackson in the 2025 film Nuremberg.

Person History