Shea Whigham Movies and Career Information

Franklin Shea Whigham, Jr. (born January 5, 1969), best known as Shea Whigham, is an American actor currently starring as Elias Thompson on the HBO dramatic series Boardwalk Empire. Whigham was born in Tallahassee, Florida in 1969 to attorney Frank and school librarian Beth, moving to Lake Mary when he was five years old. He attended Tyler Junior College (Tyler, Texas) and after completing studies there, transferred to the State University of New York at Purchase, where he was part of a small acting program with only 31 students and a graduating class of eight seniors. After graduating, he cofounded New York City theatre troupe The Rorschach Group with his college roommate Kirk Acevedo, where he served as actor and artistic director for three years. Whigham had been featured in one 1997 episode of the television series Ghost Stories before he landed a starring role in the 2000 film Tigerland, alongside Colin Farrell and future Boardwalk Empire co-star Michael Shannon. He then went on to appear in the television movies Submerged, R.U.S./H., and Paradise before he was featured in the 2003 film All the Real Girls. Between 2004 and 2006, he was credited in the Japanese film Out of This