Jonathan Banks is an American actor best known for his role as Mike Ehrmantraut on the AMC crime drama Breaking Bad and its prequel series Better Call Saul. He has also appeared in several films, including Airplane!, 48 Hrs., and Beverly Hills Cop. Banks was born in Washington, D.C., the son of an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was raised in Los Angeles, California. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he graduated with a degree in theater arts. Banks began his acting career in the 1970s with small roles on television shows such as The Waltons and Starsky & Hutch. He appeared in the films Airplane! (1980) and 48 Hrs. (1982). In 1984, he had a small role in the film Beverly Hills Cop as a detective's partner. Banks' breakout role came in 1987 with the television series Wiseguy, in which he played FBI agent Frank McPike for four seasons. He also appeared in the filmsAlien Nation (1988) and Freejack (1992). In 1994, Banks was cast as Mike Ehrmantraut, a former police officer and fixer for a powerful drug lord, on the AMC crime drama Breaking Bad. The show aired for five seasons and ended in 2013. Banks reprised his role in the spin-off series Better Call Saul, which premiered in 2015. In addition to his work on television, Banks has appeared in several films, including My Blue Heaven (1990), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Under Siege (1992), The Specialist (1994), Lost Highway (1997), and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998).