Joe Flanigan was born (January 5th, 1967) Joseph Dunnigan III in Los Angeles. He has said that his mother, Nancy, left his father soon after he was born and that his surname was changed to Flanigan after he was adopted by his stepfather, business executive John Flanigan. When he was six years old, his family moved to a small ranch near Reno, Nevada.
From the age of 14, Flanigan attended a boarding school in Ojai, California, where he appeared in the school production of A Streetcar Named Desire. He later earned a history degree at the University of Colorado where he appeared in the play Coriolanus. On the advice of a friend, he took acting classes to overcome his shyness but did not plan to pursue a career in acting. As part of the Junior Year Abroad program, Flanigan spent a year studying at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he learned French.
After graduation, he pursued a writing career. He worked on Capitol Hill and then briefly for several New York City publications, including Town & Country and Interview magazine. On the advice of some of his friends, he studied at the Neighbourhood Playhouse, was coached by Gerald Gordon, and then moved back to Los Angeles in 1994 to pursue an acting career.
Flanigan had guest roles in numerous television series including Profiler, First Monday, and Sisters, until he got his breakthrough with his role on Stargate Atlantis as Lt. Colonel John Sheppard. He lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where the series was filmed during the week, and flew to Los Angeles during the weekends where his wife and children resided. He additionally wrote for the series and created the stories for the Stargate Atlantis second season episode Epiphany and the fourth season episode Outcast.
Flanigan appears in Brooks Institute photographer John A. Russo's upcoming book About Face. Part of the proceeds are to be donated to Smile Train.
In 2019, Flanigan joined the cast of General Hospital as recurring character Dr. Neil Byrne.
Flanigan features in the contemporary public artwork, Metascifi (2015) by artist Martin Firrell. Metascifi presents social comment, and philosophical truths about living well, derived from observation of popular American television science fiction. The project features performers and characters from Stargate, Star Trek, Farscape, Firefly and Warehouse 13.
As the 'meta' element of the title suggests, the artwork invites Flanigan to comment on the wider social and narrative significance of his Stargate Atlantis character John Sheppard. Most notably, he speaks about the sexual attraction of the archetypal action hero, suggesting it is the impression of the hero's agency in the world that underpins people's attraction to characters of John Sheppard's nature.
Flanigan married Katherine Kousi, an actress and painter, in 1996. They have three sons. In early 2014, it was announced they had separated.
Flanigan took two prizes in the Waterkeepers' Alliance downhill skiing competition at Lake Louise in January 2006, an event fellow Stargate lead Richard Dean Anderson has attended as well. He currently resides in Malibu, California. On November 10th, 2018, the Malibu home he was renting from a local family was lost in the Woolsey Fire.
Film Career:
- 1994 Family Album
- 1995 Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan
- 1995 A Reason to Believe
- 1997 Tell Me No Secrets
- 1997 The First to Go
- 1998 Man Made
- 1999 The Other Sister
- 1999 The Force
- 2000 Sherman's March
- 2002 Farewell to Harry
- 2003 Thoughtcrimes
- 2003 111 Gramercy Park
- 2005 Silent Men
- 2011 Change of Plans
- 2011 Good Day For It
- 2011 Ferocious Planet
- 2012 Six Bullets
- 2012 The Secret Lives of Wives
- 2013 FANomenon
- 2015 The Bandit Hound
TV Career:
- 1994 Family Album
- 1995 Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan
- 1995–1996 Sisters
- 1997 Tell Me No Secret
- 1997 Murphy Brown
- 1998 Dawson's Creek
- 1998 Cupid
- 1998 Man Made
- 1999 Providence
- 1999 The Force
- 2000 Profiler
- 2000 Sherman's March
- 2002 First Monday
- 2002 Birds of Prey
- 2002 Judging Amy
- 2003 Tru Calling
- 2004 CSI: Miami
- 2004–2009 Stargate Atlantis
- 2006–2009 Stargate SG-1
- 2007–2008 Women's Murder Club
- 2009 Warehouse 13
- 2011 Fringe
- 2012 Metal Hurlant Chronicles
- 2013 Major Crimes
- 2019 SEAL Team
- 2019 General Hospital
