He grew up in Kirkland, Washington, and attended Ben Franklin Elementary School and Rose Hill Junior High.

[3] He graduated from Lake Washington High School in 1984 and briefly attended Skagit Valley College to pursue a career in basketball.

Following a leg injury that ended his hope of becoming a professional player, he left school to pursue his other interests such as painting and writing.

While helping a friend move from Seattle to Los Angeles, intending only to stay for a weekend, he decided to live there permanently to pursue acting.

He has also guest-starred in a number of television series, including ER, JAG, Walker, Texas Ranger, Angel, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Sliders, The O.C.

[4] In the same year, Morgan appeared in Taking Woodstock, and played Clay in a comic book film adaptation of The Losers.

[5] The following year, Morgan starred in the television drama series Magic City, which centered on mob life in 1950s Miami.

The same year, Morgan starred in the horror-thriller The Possession, and had a supporting role in the war film Red Dawn.

[6] In 2015, Morgan portrayed Deaf Smith in Texas Rising, a five-part mini-series which aired on the History Channel.

That year Morgan began his most noted role to date, as Negan Smith on the AMC TV series The Walking Dead.

[8] On May 28, 2017, Morgan drove the 2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport Pace Car to lead the starting field of the 101st Indianapolis 500.

[23] Morgan and Burton have made their home in Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, New York, on a 100-acre working farm in the Hudson Valley with cows, ducks, chickens, alpacas, donkeys, and an emu.