Jonathan Banks Biography

Jonathan Ray Banks (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor. His first notable film roles were in the films Airplane!, 48 Hrs., and Beverly Hills Cop. He has received critical acclaim for his role as Mike Ehrmantraut in the television series Breaking Bad and its spin-off, Better Call Saul, as well as Frank McPike in Wiseguy. He has received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Early life and education

Banks was born in Washington, D.C. His mother, Elena (Adams) Banks, worked for the CIA and was a professor at Indiana State University. He attended Indiana University Bloomington, where he was a classmate of actor Kevin Kline. During that time, they participated in a production of The Threepenny Opera together. Banks dropped out of the university to join a touring company of Hair as a stage manager. He toured Australia with the Hair company.

Career

In 1974, Banks moved to Los Angeles and performed on stage before picking up bit parts on television. He notably starred in the 1974 sex PSA Linda's Film on Menstruation, which was referenced by John Oliver in an episode of his show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver focusing on sex education. The episode aired on August 9, 2015, and Banks appeared at the end of the segment, ridiculing the content of said PSA. He co-starred in 48 Hrs. and Beverly Hills Cop, which are among his best known roles. Other film roles include appearances in Armed and Dangerous, Buckaroo Banzai, Freejack, Flipper, Airplane!, Gremlins, Murder Me, Murder You, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, and Identity Thief. Banks' big break on television came in 1987 with the series Wiseguy, in which he played Frank McPike for four years, a role which led to a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Although his character was primarily the hero's mentor, stories occasionally featured McPike as hero. In 1981, he appeared as Dutch Schultz on the NBC series the Gangster Chronicles. He also starred on the short-lived science fiction series Otherworld, as Kommander Nuveen Kroll, and in the sitcom Fired Up.

In the second season of Breaking Bad, Banks appeared as Mike Ehrmantraut. He became a series regular for the third, fourth, and fifth seasons. For the fifth season, he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. He also made guest appearances on several TV shows. In 2014, he had a recurring role as Buzz Hickey in the fifth season of the NBC sitcom Community. Banks reprised his role as Mike Ehrmantraut as a regular in the Breaking Bad spinoff series Better Call Saul, for which he earned his third Emmy nomination in season 1. In April 2016, he was awarded an honorary doctoral degree from Indiana University.

He also played the voice of James Gordon in the 2015 video game Batman: Arkham Knight. In 2015, Banks made a special guest appearance on the Mythbusters episode "Supernatural Shooters".

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	Coming Home	Marine at Party
1978	The Cheap Detective	Cabbie
1978	Who'll Stop the Rain	Marine
1979	The Rose	Television Promoter
1980	Airplane!	Gunderson
1980	Stir Crazy	Jack Graham
1981	Gangster Wars	Dutch Schultz
1982	Frances	Hitchhiker
1982	48 Hrs.	Algren
1984	Gremlins	Deputy Brent
1984	The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension	Lizardo Hospital Guard
1984	Beverly Hills Cop	Zack
1986	Armed and Dangerous	Clyde Klepper
1987	Cold Steel	Iceman
1988	Pin	Pin	Voice
1990	Honeymoon Academy	Pitt
1992	Freejack	Michelette
1992	There Goes the Neighborhood	Handsome Harry
1993	Boiling Point	Max Waxman
1994	Walker Texas Ranger 3: Deadly Reunion	Shelby Valentine
1995	Under Siege 2: Dark Territory	Scotty
1996	Flipper	Dirk Moran
1996	Dark Breed	Commander Joseph Shay
1999	Let the Devil Wear Black	Satch
1999	Foolish	Numbers
1999	Trash	Judge Callum
2001	Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles	Milos Drubnik
2001	Proximity	Price
2002	Dark Blue	James
2002	R.S.V.P	Walter Franklin
2006	Puff, Puff, Pass	Lance
2007	Reign Over Me	Stelter
2008	Proud American	Mr. Moretti
2012	Watercolor Postcards	Ledball
2013	Identity Thief	Paolo
2013	Roar	Bernie Warren	Short film
2014	Bullet	Carlito Kane
2014	Authors Anonymous	David Kelleher
2014	Horrible Bosses 2	Detective Hatcher
2016	Term Life	Harper
2016	Alibi	Billy	Short film
2017	Mudbound	Pappy McAllan
2018	The Commuter		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Barnaby Jones	Vince Gentry	Episode: "Dead Heat"
1976	The Macahans	Woodward	Television film
1977	Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn	Michael	Television film
1977	Family	Attendant	Episode: "Taking Chances: Part I"
1977	Barnaby Jones	Car Salesman	Episode: "Duet for Dying"
1977	Carter Country	Bob Phillips	Episode: "The Fireside Burnside Budget Chat"
1979	Lou Grant	Clay Starkes	Episode: "Kidnap"
1979	The Waltons	Jeb Sanders	Episode: "The Wager"
1979	Lou Grant	Cyrus	Episode: "Sweep"
1979	She's Dressed to Kill	Rudy Striker	Television film
1980	Little House on the Prairie	Jed	Episode: "Darkness Is My Friend"
1980	Desperate Voyage	Louis	Television film
1981	Lou Grant	Intruder	Episode: "Rape"
1981	Sanford	Al	Episode: "Cal the Coward"
1981	The Gangster Chronicles	Dutch Schultz	13 episodes
1981	Best of the West	Hombre	2 episodes
1982	Report to Murphy	Vinny	Episode: "Papillon"
1982	T. J. Hooker	Danny Scott	Episode: "The Witness"
1983	T. J. Hooker	Freddy Baker	Episode: "The Hostages"
1983	Hill Street Blues	Reggie	2 episodes
1983	Whiz Kids		Episode: "Programmed For Murder"
1983	The Invisible Woman	Darren	Television film
1983	Murder Me, Murder You	Janos Saracen	Television film
1984	Jessie	Ernie Ross	Episode: "Pilot"
1984	Cagney & Lacey	Keith Edsin	Episode: "Old Debts"
1984	Nadia	Gheorge Comaneci	Television film
1985	Otherworld	Kommander Nuveen Kroll	8 episodes
1985	Hunter	Detective Gary Krewson	Episode: "The Big Fall"
1986	The Fifth Missile	Ray Olson	Television film
1986	Assassin	Earl Dickman	Television film
1986	Who Is Julia	Jack Bodine	Television film
1987	Falcon Crest	Kolinksi	8 episodes
1987	Designing Women	Eldon Ashcroft IV	Episode: "101 Ways to Decorate a Gas Station"
1987-1990	Wiseguy	Frank McPike	74 episodes
1991	Don't Touch My Daughter	Ryter	Television film
1993	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Shel-la	Episode: "Battle Lines"
1993	Blind Side	Aaron	Television film
1994	Highlander: The Series	Mako	Episode: "Under Colour of Authority"
1994	Matlock	Jack Starling	Episode: "The P.I."
1994	Walker, Texas Ranger	Shelby Valentine	Episode: "Deadly Reunion"
1994	Tales from the Crypt	William	Episode: "The Assassin"
1995	Due South	Garret	Episode: "Heaven and Earth"
1995	Women of the House	Jim Sugarbaker	2 episodes
1994-1995	SeaQuest 2032	Maximillian Scully	2 episodes
1996	Diagnosis: Murder	Commanding Officer Max Jupe	Episode: "Murder by Friendly Fire"
1997-1998	Fired Up	Guy Mann	28 episodes
1998	Dollar for the Dead	Col. Skinner	Television film
2000	Diagnosis: Murder	Bruce Locatelli	Episode: "Murder by Remote"
2000-2001	The Trouble With Normal	Dr. Lowell	2 episodes
2001	The District	Monya Pastov	Episode: "Fools Russian: Part I"
2003	Alias	Frederick Brandon	2 episodes
2003	Strong Medicine	Frank Hardwyck	Episode: "Skin"
2004	Joan of Arcadia	Sheriff Mike Rakowski	Episode: "Jump"
2004-2006	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Bobby Jensen	2 episodes
2005	E-Ring	Adm. Cooper	4 episodes
2006	Ghost Whisperer	Lyle Chase	Episode: "Friendly Neighborhood Ghost"
2006	Without a Trace	Sal Marcello	Episode: "Check Your Head"
2006-2007	Day Break	Shadow Man	7 episodes
2007	Dexter	FBI Deputy Director Max Adams	2 episodes
2008	ER	Robert Truman	Episode: "Atonement"
2008	Shark	Jason Normandy	2 episodes
2008	Life	Nathan Gray	Episode: "Crushed"
2008	Eli Stone	Agent Johnathan Maine	Episode: "Owner of a Lonely Heart"
2009	Lie to Me	Ex-FBI Agent Bitcher	Episode: "Sacrifice"
2009	Cold Case	John Clark	Episode: "Jackals"
2009	Castle	Bruce Kirby	Episode: "Hell Hath No Fury"
2009-2012	Breaking Bad	Mike Ehrmantraut	25 episodes
2011	Modern Family	Donnie Pritchett	Episode: "The Musical Man"
2011	Two and a Half Men	Pawn Broker	Episode: "A Fishbowl Full of Glass Eyes"
2011	CSI: Miami	Oscar Duarte	Episode: "Long Gone"
2012	Ringer	Remy Osterman	2 episodes
2012	Parks and Recreation	Steve Wyatt	Episode: "Ben's Parents"
2012	Vegas	Angelo LaFlatta	2 episodes
2013	Bloodline	Leo Killpriest	Pilot
2013	Body of Proof	Glenn Fitz	Episode: "Daddy Issue"
2013-2015	Axe Cop	Various voices	3 episodes
2014	Community	Buzz Hickey	11 episodes
2014	Mike Tyson Mysteries	The Wizard (voice)	Episode: "Is Magic Real?"
2015-present	Better Call Saul	Mike Ehrmantraut	28 episodes
2015	The Lizzie Borden Chronicles	Mr. Flowers	3 episodes
2015	Major Lazer	The Law (voice)	Episode: "Escape from Rave Island"
2015	Gravity Falls	Filbrick Pines (voice)	Episode: "A Tale of Two Stans"
2015	Robot Chicken	Composite Superman (voice)	Episode: "Robot Chicken DC Comics Special III: Magical Friendship"
2015	The Expanse	Executive Officer	Episode: "Dulcinea"
2016-present	Skylanders Academy	Eruptor (voice)	12 episodes
2017	Dr. Ken	Dr. Erwin	Episode: "Ken's Professor"
2017	Tangled: The Series	Quirin (voice)	Episode: "What the Hair!?"

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2015	Batman: Arkham Knight	James Gordon (voice)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1989	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Wiseguy
1990	Viewers for Quality Television	Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Drama Series
2012	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Breaking Bad
2013	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actor on Television
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2015	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Better Call Saul
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
2016	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
2017	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film