American actor (born 1969)
Shea Whigham (born January 5, 1969)[ 1] is an American actor best known for portraying Elias "Eli" Thompson in the drama series Boardwalk Empire . He also appeared in the first season of True Detective and the third season of Fargo and in numerous films, including Wristcutters: A Love Story , Take Shelter , Silver Linings Playbook , American Hustle , The Wolf of Wall Street , Kong: Skull Island , First Man , Vice , Joker , Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse , and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One . He has appeared as Agent Michael Stasiak in Fast & Furious , Fast & Furious 6 , and F9 .
Early life
Whigham was born in Tallahassee, Florida , the son of attorney Frank and school librarian Beth. The family moved to Lake Mary, Florida , when Whigham was five years old.[ 2] [ 3] He attended Lake Mary High School .[ 4]
Whigham attended Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas , and then transferred to the State University of New York at Purchase, New York , where he was part of a small acting program with only 31 students and a graduating class of eight seniors.[ 5]
Career
After graduating, Whigham co-founded the theatre troupe the Rorschach Group with his college roommate Kirk Acevedo in New York City and served as an actor and artistic director with the troupe for three years.[ 6]
Whigham appeared in one 1997 episode of the television series Ghost Stories before he received a starring role in the 2000 film Tigerland .[ 5] He went on to appear in the television films Submerged , R.U.S./H. , and Paradise before acting in the 2003 film All the Real Girls .[ 2] Between 2004 and 2006, he appeared in the Japanese film Out of This World , the drama television series Medical Investigation , and the films Water , Man of the House , Faith of My Fathers , Lords of Dogtown , Psychic Driving , and South of Heaven .
Whigham appeared in Pride and Glory and co-starred in the horror film Splinter , the thriller Creek , and the science fiction film Radio Free Albemuth .[ 3]
He had a regular leading role on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire as Elias "Eli" Thompson , sheriff of Atlantic County, New Jersey , for the show's entire run. In 2014, he appeared in the HBO series True Detective as the disillusioned former minister Joel Theriot.[ 7] He appeared in two[ a] episodes of FX's Justified in 2015.
Between 2012 and 2017, he had several movie roles, such as The Wolf of Wall Street , American Hustle , Silver Linings Playbook , Term Life , and Kong: Skull Island . In 2018, he appeared in the films Sicario: Day of the Soldado , First Man , and Bad Times at the El Royale . In 2019, he appeared in the Warner Bros./DC Comics psychological thriller Joker as GCPD Detective Burke. He also appeared in both seasons of HBO's Vice Principals as Ray Liptrapp; appeared in Fargo and the miniseries Waco ; and he starred in the television series Homecoming alongside Julia Roberts for which he was nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series . In 2020, he was cast as Pete Strickland on HBO's reimagining of Perry Mason , a role for which he received attention for his moustache.[ 9]
He has appeared in several projects alongside actors Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks , both of whom starred on Boardwalk Empire and Waco . Shannon and Whigham also appeared together in The Quarry , Take Shelter , Tigerland , and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans .
Whigham will also be starring in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning , set for debut in 2025.[ 10]
Personal life
Whigham has four children, including actress Giorgia Whigham , with his wife Christine Whigham.[ 11]
Filmography
Key
†
Denotes works that have not yet been released
Film
Television
Video games
Notes
^ He was uncredited for his appearance in the episode "Fugitive Number One".[ 8]
References
^ "Birthdays". The Modesto Bee . The Associated Press . January 5, 2022. p. 2A. Actor Shea Whigham is 53.
^ a b "Interview: Shea Whigham" . When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Blog. November 2, 2007. Retrieved March 29, 2008 .
^ a b Moore, Roger (October 27, 2007). " 'Wrist' could be big break" . Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved March 29, 2008 .
^ "Lake Mary actor hits jackpot in 'Boardwalk Empire' " . Orlando Sentinel . September 20, 2010.
^ a b "An interview with Wristcutters' Shea Whigham" . Central Florida Future . November 2, 2007. Archived from the original on August 9, 2011. Retrieved March 29, 2008 .
^ Buchanan, Jason. "Shea Whigham: Biography" . Allmovie . Retrieved March 29, 2008 .
^ "Watch The Full, Utterly Spellbinding Sermon By The Tent Preacher From 'True Detective' " . uproxx.com . January 31, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014 .
^ Bierly, Mandi (March 31, 2015). " 'Justified' Postmortem: Graham Yost Breaks Down that Epic Brawl in 'Fugitive Number One' " . yahoo.com . Retrieved April 1, 2023 .
^ "The Rundown: The Mustaches of HBO's 'Perry Mason,' Ranked" . uproxx.com . June 26, 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2020 .
^ McQuarrie, Christopher (May 23, 2025), Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (Action, Adventure, Thriller), Tom Cruise, Hannah Waddingham, Hayley Atwell, Paramount Pictures, Skydance Media, retrieved November 18, 2024
^ https://mofopolitics.com/2016/12/06/giorgina-whigham-voted/ [permanent dead link ]
^ Davids, Brian (May 1, 2020). "Shea Whigham on 'The Quarry' and "Electric" Christian Bale Scenes" . The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved June 17, 2021 .
^ Han, Angie (May 25, 2021). "The Fast saga soars to new heights of nonsense in 'F9' " . Mashable . Retrieved June 17, 2021 .
^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (October 19, 2020). "John Pollono's 'Small Engine Repair' Motors To Where Hollywood Movies Go To Lure Distributors: The Drive-In" . Deadline . Retrieved June 17, 2021 .
^ Sony Pictures Animation [@SonyAnimation] (June 13, 2022). "As a treat #AnnecyFestival gets a sequence from the film! In this clip, we find Gwen's dad, George Stacy (voiced by Shea Whigham), a "by the books cop," responding to a disturbance at the Guggenheim Museum. Of course, Gwen beats him to the scene, where she's met with new faces…" (Tweet ). Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022 – via Twitter .
^ "Back-to-Back 'Mission: Impossible' Sequels Add 'Boardwalk Empire' Star Shea Whigham" . /Film . December 22, 2019. Retrieved June 17, 2021 .
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