Portrait of Michael Shannon

Birthday profile

Michael Shannon

Michael Shannon, American actor

Born
August 7, 1974
Age in 2026
52
Zodiac sign
Leo
Birth year
1974

About Michael Shannon

Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor. Known for his forceful and intense style of acting, he has twice received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for Revolutionary Road (2008) and Nocturnal Animals (2016). He received Actor Award and Golden Globe nominations for his role in 99 Homes (2014). Shannon's film debut was in Groundhog Day (1993). He appeared in Jesus' Son (1999), Pearl Harbor (2001), Kangaroo Jack (2003), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), The Iceman (2012), The Night Before (2015), The Shape of Water (2017), Knives Out (2019), and Bullet Train (2022). He is a frequent collaborator with director Jeff Nichols, having appeared in all of Nichols' films to date: Shotgun Stories (2007), Take Shelter (2011), Mud (2012), Midnight Special and Loving (both 2016), and The Bikeriders (2023). He played General Zod in the DC Extended Universe films Man of Steel (2013) and The Flash (2023). Shannon made his Broadway debut in the 2012 play Grace. He returned to Broadway playing James Tyrone Jr. in the revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night (2016), earning a Tony Award nomination. His television roles include a role as Nelson Van Alden in the HBO period drama series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014) for which he won two Actor Awards. He also starred in Hulu's Nine Perfect Strangers (2021), and Showtime's George & Tammy (2022), the latter of which he received a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award. He also played James A. Garfield in the Netflix miniseries Death by Lightning, and Robert H. Jackson in the film Nuremberg (both 2025). Shannon's first screen role was the main character in the music video for the Every Mother's Nightmare song "House of Pain", where he played a troubled teenager who had run away from his abusive home. In 2007, Shannon began the first of his many collaborations with director Jeff Nichols, when cast in the movie Shotgun Stories. His television roles include a role as Nelson Van Alden in the HBO period drama series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014) for which he won two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He received Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe award nominations for his role in 99 Homes (2014).

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Michael Shannon timeline

  1. In 2007, Shannon began the first of his many collaborations with director Jeff Nichols, when cast in the movie Shotgun Stories.
  2. Known for his forceful and intense style of acting, he has twice received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for Revolutionary Road (2008) and Nocturnal Animals (2016).
  3. His television roles include a role as Nelson Van Alden in the HBO period drama series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014) for which he won two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
  4. He received Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe award nominations for his role in 99 Homes (2014).

The world when Michael Shannon was born

Michael Shannon was born in 1974. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1974

  • #1 song"The Way We Were" – Barbra Streisand
  • Top movieThe Godfather Part II
  • Top TV showAll in the Family
  • Best-selling bookJaws – Peter Benchley

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentHank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth's all-time home run record (715)
  • Top headlinePresident Nixon resigns from office
  • Technology milestoneUniversal Product Code (UPC barcode) scanned for the first time
  • Defining fadStreaking
  • Notable inventionPost-it Note bookmark prototype
  • World population4.01 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderRichard Nixon / Gerald Ford
  • Sports championOakland Athletics (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population213.9M

1974 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Michael Shannon's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19742026
Gas$0.53$3.45/gal
Average home$25,200$435,000
Average income$14,200$67,500
Minimum wage$2.00$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$1.87$11.95
Postage stamp$0.10$0.73
Population213.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.