Joe Flanigan

Infobox actor
name = Joe Flanigan


imagesize = 250 px
caption = Joe Flanigan at Comic Con 2007
birthdate = Birth date and age|1967|01|5
location = Los Angeles, California USA
birthname =
yearsactive = 1994 - present
homepage =
spouse = Katherine Kousi (1996- present)

Joe Flanigan (born January 5, 1967) is an American television actor best known as Major/Lt. Colonel John Sheppard in "Stargate Atlantis".

Biography

Early life

Flanigan was born Joseph Dunnigan III in Los Angeles, California. His name was changed to Joseph Flanigan after he was adopted by his stepfather, John Flanigan.Reno Gazette Journal, March 9, 2008.] He has three brothers and four sisters. When he was six years old, his family moved to a small ranch near Reno, Nevada, although his stepfather objected to his ranch being called a "small" farm. Joe responds, "The trouble is, it "is" a small farm." [KTLA Morning Show Interview, 06/22/2007] However it is a somewhat coy mischaracterization of his stepfather who was a vice president at the family business, Anheuser Busch.

From the age of 14 Flanigan attended a boarding school in Ojai, California where he appeared in the school's production of "A Streetcar Named Desire". [ [http://www.weblo.com/celebrity/Actor/Joe_Flanigan/456303/ Joe Flanigan on Weblo.com] ] He later earned a history degree at the University of Colorado where he was a world-class skier [http://www.scifi.com/atlantis/cast/sheppard/ SciFi.com Bio] ] and appeared in "Coriolanus". He took acting to overcome his shyness and never planned on an acting career. [Joe Flanigan, Burbank Stargate convention, July 2005.] He spent a year studying at the Sorbonne in Paris as part of the Junior Year Abroad program and is fluent enough to joke around with French reporters in French. [Luba, Frank. "Stargate cast members ready for new portals." "The Province", June 17, 2007.]

Career

After graduation, he pursued a writing career. He worked on Capitol Hill [ [http://www.scifi.com/atlantis/cast/sheppard/ John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) | Bios | Stargate Atlantis | SCIFI.COM ] ] and then briefly for several New York City publications, including "Town & Country" and "Interview" magazine. On the advice of some of his friends, he studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse, was coached by Gerald Gordon, [ [http://www.geraldgordon.com/ Gerald Gordon's Website] ] and then moved back to Los Angeles in 1994 to pursue an acting career.

Flanigan had guest roles in numerous television series including "Profiler", "First Monday", and "Sisters", until he got his breakthrough with his current role on "Stargate Atlantis" as Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, the military leader of the Atlantis Expedition. He lives in Vancouver, Canada, where the series is filmed during the week, and flies to Los Angeles, California during the weekends where his wife and children reside. [KTLA Morning Show Interview - 06/22/2007] He continues to write, and created the stories for the second season episode "Epiphany" and the fourth season "Outcast".

In September 2007 scifi.com's SciFi Wire service reported that, "Talent agency UTA filed suit on Sept. 24 against Stargate Atlantis star Joe Flanigan in Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming that the actor owes $99,225 in commissions, according to The Hollywood Reporter; Flanigan's manager, John Carrabino, told the trade paper about the lawsuit: 'I had no idea they did this. This is the first time I'm hearing about this.'" UTA filed a similar lawsuit against actor Wesley Snipes who was equally surprised. [Simmons, Leslie. "UTA Sues 'Stargate' Actor." The Hollywood Reporter, September 25, 2007.]

Joe appears in Brooks Institute photographer John Russo's upcoming book "About Face". [http://www.aboutfacebookproject.com/index.php#a=0&at=0&mi=1&pt=0&pi=3&s=0&p=-1] [ [http://www.brooks.edu/press/press_07-11-07.asp Brooks Institute - Press ] ] Part of the proceeds are to be donated to Smile Train. [ [http://www.smiletrain.org/site/PageServer The Smile Train: The World's Leading Cleft Charity ] ]

Personal life

Flanigan has been married to Katherine Kousi, an actress/painter, since 1996. They have three sons, Aidan, Truman,cite book| last = Gosling| first = Sharon| authorlink = Sharon Gosling| title = Stargate Atlantis: The Official Companion Season 1| origdate = | origyear = 2005| origmonth = July| publisher = Titan Books| location = London| id = ISBN 1-84576-116-2| pages = 7| chapter = Foreword by Joe Flanigan] and Fergus. [cite web|title=Gateworld Forum|url=http://forum.gateworld.net/showpost.php?p=5947606&postcount=36915|publisher=Gateworld.net|accessdate=2006-10-30]

An avid outdoorsman, Joe Flanigan enjoys downhill skiing, skate-boarding, surfing, rock climbing, and mountain climbing. He took two prizes in the Waterkeepers' Alliance downhill ski competition at Lake Louise in January 2006, an event fellow Stargate lead Richard Dean Anderson has attended as well. [Burroughs, Alexandra. "Avalanche of stars descends on Lake Louise" "Calgary Herald", December 28, 2005] However, Joe explains that he decided to stop mountain climbing after he froze his cornea on Mount Rainier. [Burbank Stargate convention, July 2005.] He said at a convention that he realized as a father, "it was irresponsible of me to take those kinds of risks."

Filmography

Actor

Writer

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0281167|name=Joe Flanigan