Norman Reedus

Actor

Birth Name: Norman Mark Reedus

Birth Date: January 6, 1969

Age: 56 years old

Birth Place: Hollywood, Florida

Partners: Diane Kruger, Helena Christensen

Projecting a carefully poised air of elegant dissolution since the late 1990s, actor Norman Reedus essayed fringe dwellers, true believers, and sinister types in "The Boondock Saints" (1999), "Gossip" (2000), and "Blade II" (2002) before settling into character roles in independent films and television, including the hit "The Walking Dead" (AMC, 2010- ).

Handsome enough to model, which he did throughout the '90s, Reedus nevertheless projected an air of distance and possible danger, which excluded him from traditional hero roles. Instead, he disrupted the lives of characters around him, bringing tension and harm to Kate Hudson in "Gossip," Stephen Dorff in "Deuces Wild" (2002), and others. Only his hotheaded Irish vigilante in "Boondock" and a scruff munitions maker in "Blade II" broke from the mold. His looks and the cult status of several past projects kept him on the radar into the new millennium, where he gamely moved from project to project, still trailing a fragrance of edgy mystery.

Born in Hollywood, FL on Jan. 6, 1969, Norman Reedus was raised in Los Angeles, CA, which he reportedly left to seek his own fortune at the age of 12. After spending time in a variety of countries, including England and Japan, he returned to California, where he worked at a Harley Davidson motorcycle repair shop in Venice Beach. Reedus began acting in Los Angeles theater, making his screen debut with a bit part in Guillermo Del Toro's underrated science fiction thriller "Mimic" in 1997. That same year, he vaulted to leading man status with the indie "Six Ways to Sunday" (1997) as a disturbed young man who becomes a hitman to support his mother (Deborah Harry).

He continued to mine a vein of dark characters in subsequent releases, including "Dark Harbor" (1998), in which his mysterious stranger drove a lethal wedge between quarreling married couple Alan Rickman and Polly Walker, and a sleazy LA habitué who led a young girl into a nightmare world of pornography in Joel Schumacher's much-loathed "8mm" (1999).

That same year, Reedus played Murphy McManus, the more volatile half of two vigilante brothers who dedicated themselves to wiping out crime in Boston in "The Boondock Saints" (1999), a minor crime drama that became a cult favorite on DVD. The film, which was largely overshadowed by the negative press directed at its director, Troy Duffy, for his boorish behavior during and after production, generated enough goodwill among viewers to produce a sequel, "Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" (2009), with Reedus reprising his role. It too failed to find much traction at the box office. During this period, Reedus' feline looks earned him favored nation status as a model for numerous high-end fashion houses, including Prada, among others.

The high profile afforded by his work as a model thrust Reedus into the spotlight, but he rarely found a solid vehicle. Audiences largely avoided his work in indie features such as "Let the Devil Wear Black" (1999), which transported Shakespeare's "Hamlet" to modern-day Los Angeles, as well as studio efforts like "Gossip" (2000), which attempted to repeat the young-stars-in-peril formula of "Scream" (1997) by pitting three venal students, including Reedus, against a seemingly innocent couple (Joshua Jackson and Kate Hudson).

A reunion with Del Toro on "Blade II" (2002) gave him a rare break from flops and a choice role as Scud, a young weapon builder who aided Wesley Snipes' vampire hunter in tracking down powerful, mutated bloodsuckers.

He returned to minor theatrical efforts like the period gang drama "Deuces Wild" (2002), which cast him as a vengeful drug dealer, and "Octane" (2002), in which he played a deranged driver who aids Madeleine Stowe against a cult of car worshipers. Reedus soon settled into supporting roles in features and television, most notably in Ridley Scott's "American Gangster" (2007) as a New York police detective, and as a terrified space traveler in "Pandorum" (2009).

The year 2010 saw him working largely on television, including a recurring role on the massively popular AMC series, "Walking Dead," as Daryl, a scurrilous redneck survivor of a zombie plague who risked life and limb to rescue his racist brother (Michael Rooker) after being abandoned by a scouting patrol. Between seasons, Reedus took on film roles, playing a tongue in cheek version of himself in Joe Carnahan's dark indie comedy "Stretch" (2014) and a long-haul trucker in the rebooted "Vacation" (2015).

He transitioned to leading roles in the science fiction thriller "Air" (2015) and the romantic drama "Sky" (2015), opposite Diane Kruger.