Jonathan Banks

Jonathan Banks is an American actor, known for his portrayals of Mike Ehrmantraut in the TV series Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. He was born on January 31, 1947, in Washington, D.C., and studied at Indiana University.

Career

In the 1980s, he appeared in cinema mostly as tough cop and criminal characters; Airplane! (1980), 48 Hrs. (1982) and Beverly Hills Cop (1984) are known films of this period. He made his breakthrough playing the role of FBI agent Frank McPike in the TV series Wiseguy, which aired between 1987 and 1990, and received his first Emmy nomination for this role.

Mike Ehrmantraut, who he played when he joined Breaking Bad in 2009, was a former cop and hitman who spoke little and did his job meticulously. When the character attracted the attention of the audience, he was cast in the main cast of Better Call Saul (2015-2022), which tells the prequel to the series; Banks continued this role in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019). In the field of voice acting, he voiced Commissioner Jim Gordon in Batman: Arkham Knight.

He has a total of six Primetime Emmy nominations for best supporting actor in a drama, for Wiseguy, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, but none of these nominations have translated into awards. He won a Saturn Award in 2013 and 2022 for his role as Mike Ehrmantraut. Throughout his long career, his name became most closely associated with this measured, quiet character.