J. K. Simmons | |
|---|---|
 Simmons at the 15th Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2009 | |
| Born | Jonathan Kimble Simmons January 9, 1955 Grosse Pointe, Michigan, U.S. |
| Education | University of Montana (BA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Works | Performances |
| Spouse |
Michelle Schumacher (m. 1996) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Full list |
Jonathan Kimble Simmons[1] (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor. He is considered one of the most eminent male character actors of his generation[2][3] and his career spans over five decades of screen and stage. Simmons is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award and a Golden Globe Award for his supporting role in Damien Chazelle's independent film Whiplash (2014).
Simmons is known for his role as J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007). He reprised his role as Jameson in various Marvel media unrelated to the Raimi trilogy, including multiple animated titles and the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. He has appeared in numerous supporting roles in films such as The Cider House Rules (1999), Thank You for Smoking (2005), Juno (2007), Burn After Reading (2008), Up in the Air (2009), Jennifer's Body (2009), La La Land (2016), Justice League (2017), and Palm Springs (2020). He portrayed William Frawley in Being the Ricardos (2021), for which he received another nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
On television he is known for playing white supremacist prisoner Vernon Schillinger on the HBO series Oz (1997–2003), the recurring role of Dr. Emil Skoda on the NBC series Law & Order (1997–2010), Assistant Police Chief Will Pope on the TNT series The Closer (2005–2012), and Howard Silk in the Starz series Counterpart (2017–2019). He also appeared in commercials for Farmers Insurance.
On the Broadway stage Simmons played Captain Hook in the 1991 revival of Peter Pan and Benny Southstreet in the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls.[4]
As a voice actor he is known for portraying the Yellow M&M in commercials since 1996, Cave Johnson in the video game Portal 2 (2011), White Knight in Generator Rex (2010-2013), Tenzin in The Legend of Korra (2012–2014), Stanford "Ford" Pines in Gravity Falls (2015–2016), Kai in Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016), Mayor Leodore Lionheart in Zootopia (2016), the titular character in Klaus (2019), Nolan Grayson / Omni-Man in Invincible (2021–present), and General Ketheric Thorm in the video game Baldur's Gate 3 (2023).
- ^ "J.K. Simmons". TV Guide. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
- ^ "JK Simmons: 'I still get emotional – how could the universe be so unfair?'". The Guardian. December 10, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
- ^ "From Spider-Man to Aaron Sorkin: JK Simmons Is Everywhere". GQ. December 14, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
- ^ "J. K. Simmons (Performer)". Playbill. Retrieved November 24, 2017.