Michael Rooker (born April 6, 1955) is an American actor who primarily plays antagonist roles. He first gained recognition for the title role in the film Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986), and he achieved his greatest fame for his roles as Merle Dixon in the AMC series The Walking Dead (2010–2013) and Yondu Udonta in the film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), as well as in its sequels Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). He is a frequent collaborator of Guardians of the Galaxy director and DC Studios co-chairman James Gunn, appearing in all of his films to date, including Slither (2006), Super (2010), and The Suicide Squad (2021).

Among Rooker's other notable roles are Chick Gandil in Eight Men Out (1988), Frank Bailey in Mississippi Burning (1988), Terry Cruger in Sea of Love (1989), Rowdy Burns in Days of Thunder (1990), Bill Broussard in JFK (1991), Hal Tucker in Cliffhanger (1993), Sherman McMaster in Tombstone (1993), Jared Svenning in Mallrats (1995), Detective Edward Kennesaw in Deceiver (1997), Detective Howard Cheney in The Bone Collector (1999), Detective Jake Riley in Replicant (2001), and Buddy in F9 (2021).