Michael Garrett Shanks is a Canadian actor who achieved international fame for his role as Dr. Daniel Jackson in the long-running Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. Shanks grew up in Kamloops, British Columbia. After graduating from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre in 1994, he appeared 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, appeared in... the TV movie A Family Divided and had a small role in The Call of the Wild, before winning the role of Daniel Jackson on Stargate SG-1. Shanks played archaeologist Dr. Daniel Jackson throughout the first five seasons of Stargate SG-1 before leaving the show, citing creative differences concerning the under-use of his character and the direction of the show as a whole. He made several guest appearances throughout the sixth season playing his own character, as well as voicing the Asgard character Thor.
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