J. K. Simmons

J. K. Simmons
Simmons in 2024
Born	Jonathan Kimble Simmons (1955-01-09) January 9, 1955 (age 70) Grosse Pointe, Michigan, U.S.
Education	University of Montana (BA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1986–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. Considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation,^[2][3] he has amassed over 200 screen and stage credits since his 1986 debut. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing an abusive instructor in Damien Chazelle's independent film Whiplash (2014), and received a second nomination for portraying William Frawley in Being the Ricardos (2021). His other various accolades include a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Simmons became known for his role as J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), a role he reprised 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), Palm Springs (2020), and Juror No. 2 (2024). He played different interpretations of Santa Claus in Klaus (2019) and Red One (2024).

On television, he played 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 has played 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), Martin Smarty in Kim Possible (2002–2007), Nolan Grayson / Omni-Man in Invincible (2021–present) and Mortal Kombat 1 (2023), and General Ketheric Thorm in the video game Baldur's Gate 3 (2023).