Jonathan Banks
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Ray Banks is an American actor in film and television.
Banks was born in Washington, D.C.
in 1947. His mother worked for the CIA. Banks attended Indiana University Bloomington
where he was a classmate of Kevin Kline
. During that time, they participated together in a production of The Threepenny Opera
.
Banks dropped out of Indiana University to join a touring company as a stage manager. He went to Australia with the company and stayed on working in theatre there. In 1974, he moved to Los Angeles and performed on stage before picking up bit parts on television. Probably his best-known movie roles are in two films starring Eddie Murphy
: 48 Hrs.
and Beverly Hills Cop
. In 48 Hrs. he plays a character who is a friend of the lead and is killed by the villain, beginning the lead characters' story. In Beverly Hills Cop, he plays a villain who kills the lead characters' friend and begins his story. Other movie roles include appearances in Armed and Dangerous, Freejack
, Flipper, Airplane!
, Gremlins
, Murder Me, Murder You
, and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
. His most recent film to date is the 2007 film Reign Over Me.
His biggest break on television, came with the series Wiseguy
, in which he played Frank McPike for four years, a role which led to an 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
TV series Otherworld
, as Kommander Neveen Kroll and in the sitcom Fired Up
.
Banks has also made guest appearances on TV shows including Alias
, CSI, Day Break
, Highlander: The Series
, Matlock
, SeaQuest DSV
, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
, Women of the House
, Walker Texas Ranger, Dexter
, ER
, Cold Case, Shark
, Modern Family
, and Two and a Half Men
.
In the second season finale of Breaking Bad
, Banks appeared in a scene-stealing role as a 'fixer' named Mike. Positive reaction to this appearance led to this character becoming a series regular for the third season, including a memorable and critically acclaimed monologue in the penultimate episode of that season. Banks' Mike has continued to appear during the fourth season.
Banks was born in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in 1947. His mother worked for the CIA. Banks attended Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
where he was a classmate of Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline
Kevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...
. During that time, they participated together in a production of The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
.
Banks dropped out of Indiana University to join a touring company as a stage manager. He went to Australia with the company and stayed on working in theatre there. In 1974, he moved to Los Angeles and performed on stage before picking up bit parts on television. Probably his best-known movie roles are in two films starring Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
: 48 Hrs.
48 Hrs.
48 Hrs. is a 1982 American action comedy film directed by Walter Hill, starring Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy as a cop and convict, respectively, who team up to catch a cop-killer. The title refers to the amount of time they have to solve the crime. This was Eddie Murphy's film debut , and Joel...
and Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American comedy-action film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, and Ronny Cox...
. In 48 Hrs. he plays a character who is a friend of the lead and is killed by the villain, beginning the lead characters' story. In Beverly Hills Cop, he plays a villain who kills the lead characters' friend and begins his story. Other movie roles include appearances in Armed and Dangerous, Freejack
Freejack
Freejack is a 1992 science fiction film directed by Geoff Murphy, starring Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger, Rene Russo, Jonathan Banks, Grand L. Bush and Anthony Hopkins. Upon its release in the United States, the film received mostly negative reviews. The story was adapted from Immortality, Inc., a...
, Flipper, Airplane!
Airplane!
Airplane! is a 1980 American satirical comedy film directed and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker and released by Paramount Pictures...
, Gremlins
Gremlins
Gremlins is a 1984 American horror comedy film directed by Joe Dante, released by Warner Bros. The film is about a young man who receives a strange creature—called a Mogwai—as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. It was followed by a sequel,...
, Murder Me, Murder You
Murder Me, Murder You
Murder Me, Murder You is a made-for-TV movie starring Stacy Keach as Mickey Spillane's iconic hard-boiled private detective, Mike Hammer. The movie marks the first time the fictitious gumshoe would be portrayed on the small-screen since Darren McGavin played the part in the black-and-white version...
, and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
Under Siege 2: Dark Territory is a 1995 American action film set on board a train traveling through the Rocky Mountains from Denver to Los Angeles. Directed by Geoff Murphy, it stars Steven Seagal as the ex-Navy SEAL, Casey Ryback and is the sequel to the 1992 film Under Siege also starring Seagal....
. His most recent film to date is the 2007 film Reign Over Me.
His biggest break on television, came with the series Wiseguy
Wiseguy
Wiseguy is an American crime drama series that aired on CBS from September 16, 1987 to December 8, 1990 for a total of four seasons. Starring Ken Wahl, the series was produced by Stephen J...
, in which he played Frank McPike for four years, a role which led to an Emmy award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nomination. Although his character was primarily the hero's mentor, stories occasionally featured McPike as hero. In 1981 he appeared as Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz was a New York City-area Jewish American gangster of the 1920s and 1930s who made his fortune in organized crime-related activities such as bootlegging alcohol and the numbers racket...
on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series the Gangster Chronicles
The Gangster Chronicles
The Gangster Chronicles is an NBC American television crime drama mini series starring Michael Nouri, Joe Penny, Jon Polito, Louis Giambalvo and narrated by E.G. Marshall.-Overview:...
. He also starred on the short-lived science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
TV series Otherworld
Otherworld (TV series)
Otherworld is a short-lived American science fiction series that aired for only eight episodes from January 26 to March 16, 1985 on CBS. It was created by Roderick Taylor as a sort of Lost in Space on Earth...
, as Kommander Neveen Kroll and in the sitcom Fired Up
Fired Up (TV series)
Fired Up is a short-lived 1997–1998 situation comedy airing on NBC. It lasted for two seasons and 28 episodes. The series, the first from Grammnet Productions, starred Sharon Lawrence and Leah Remini. The series was about a self-centered promotions executive and her mouthy assistant...
.
Banks has also made guest appearances on TV shows including Alias
Alias (TV series)
Alias is an American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006...
, CSI, Day Break
Day Break
Day Break is a television program for which one 13-episode season was produced. The series starred Taye Diggs as Detective Brett Hopper, who is framed for the murder of Assistant District Attorney Alberto Garza. Due to a time loop, Hopper lives the same day over and over...
, Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series is a fantasy-adventure television series featuring Duncan MacLeod of the Scottish Clan MacLeod, as the Highlander. It was an offshoot and another alternate sequel of the 1986 feature film with a twist: Connor MacLeod did not win the prize and Immortals still exist post-1985...
, Matlock
Matlock (TV series)
Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of attorney Ben Matlock. The show originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced The A-Team, then from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.The show's format was similar...
, SeaQuest DSV
SeaQuest DSV
seaQuest DSV is an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996. In its final season, it was renamed seaQuest 2032. Set in "the near future", seaQuest mixes high drama with realistic scientific fiction...
, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
, Women of the House
Women of the House
Women of the House is an American situation comedy television series. It is a spin-off of Designing Women and stars Delta Burke, who had reconciled with producers after a bitter, highly publicized, off-screen battle.- Premise :...
, Walker Texas Ranger, Dexter
Dexter (TV series)
Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer...
, ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, Cold Case, Shark
Shark (TV series)
Shark is an American legal drama created by Ian Biederman that originally aired on CBS from September 21, 2006 to May 20, 2008. The series stars James Woods.-Synopsis:...
, Modern Family
Modern Family
Modern Family is an American television comedy series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, which debuted on ABC on September 23, 2009. Lloyd and Levitan serve as showrunner and executive producers, under their Levitan-Lloyd Productions label...
, and Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
.
In the second season finale of Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad is an American television drama series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White , a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series...
, Banks appeared in a scene-stealing role as a 'fixer' named Mike. Positive reaction to this appearance led to this character becoming a series regular for the third season, including a memorable and critically acclaimed monologue in the penultimate episode of that season. Banks' Mike has continued to appear during the fourth season.