Jonathan Kimble "J. K." Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles on television as Dr. Emil Skoda in NBC's Law & Order (and having appeared in other shows in the Law and Order franchise), Assistant Police Chief Will Pope in TNT's The Closer, neo-Nazi Vernon Schillinger in the HBO prison drama Oz, and on film as J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man franchise.
Personal life[]
Simmons was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Patricia (née Kimble), an administrator, and Donald William Simmons, a college professor.[1][2] He has a brother, David (a singer-songwriter), and a sister, Elizabeth. He attended the University of Montana[3] and was a member of the Seattle Repertory Theatre.[3]
Career[]
Musical theatre[]
Prior to his film & television career, Simmons was a Broadway actor and singer. He was in the revival of Guys and Dolls as Benny Southstreet. He also played the role of Jigger in a revival of Carousel with the Houston Grand Opera. He also starred in the 1987 Off-Broadway musical Birds of Paradise.
Notable film and television roles[]
Simmons is known for his TV roles as Dr. Emil Skoda, a police psychiatrist, who has appeared on three of the four incarnations of Law & Order and New York Undercover, and as the sadistic inmate Vernon Schillinger on the prison drama Oz. He also stars as Ralph Earnhardt, the father of race-car driver Dale Earnhardt, in 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story. He played B.R. in the film Thank You For Smoking and has been praised for his performance in Juno as "Mac" McGuff, the title character's father. Currently, he plays Will Pope, Assistant Chief of the LAPD, in The Closer.
He also played J. Jonah Jameson in all three Spider-Man movies and the expanded video game adaption of Spider-Man 3. Simmons provided his voice for two newspaper editors in two episodes of the eighteenth season of The Simpsons. The characters are never named, but are obviously meant to emulate the character of Jameson (one, bearing Jameson's appearance, even demands "pictures of Spider-Man", then on being reminded he works at a poetry journal, demands "poems about Spider-Man").
Simmons also provides the voice of the yellow M&M in the product's commercials, as well as the 3-D movie "I Lost My M in Vegas" playing at M&M's World in Las Vegas, NV. He has also done voiceover work for Norelco razors. He also provided the voice of General Wade Eiling in Justice League Unlimited. He recorded an audio book for Tom Clancy's Net Force Point of Impact. Like many of his Law & Order co-stars, he also appeared in an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street, portraying a criminal in an episode that crossed over with Law & Order before Simmons joined the cast as Skoda. He also played a small role as an army general in the television sitcom Arrested Development, alongside his Juno co-stars, Michael Cera and Jason Bateman. As well, he played Dan the Barber in the surreal Nickelodeon kid's show The Adventures of Pete & Pete in 1995. In 2008 he had a small but highly entertaining part as the "CIA Superior" in "Burn After Reading".
He has recently appeared as the anti-communist U. S. President Howard T. Ackerman in the video game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 and a series of promotional advertisements parodying the 2008 presidential elections. In these advertisements, he offers himself (as Ackerman) as an alternative to other, unnamed presidential candidates and used the slogan "Vote for me, if you want to live."[4]
Simmons appears also in Postal as Candidate Wells.
Simmons is quickly becoming known for starring in movies that are produced or directed by his friend Jason Reitman, including Thank You for Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air and Jennifer's Body, written by Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody.
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Popeye Doyle | Patrolman in Park | TV Movie |
| 1994 | The Ref | Siskel | |
| Heisei tanuki gassen pompoko | Seizaemon | Voice only (English version) a.k.a. Pom Poko | |
| The Scout | Assistant Coach | ||
| Law & Order | Jerry Luppin | Episode: "Sanctuary" | |
| 1995 | New York News | Unknown | Episode: "Welcome Back Cotter" |
| The Adventures of Pete & Pete | Barber Dan | Episode: "Saturday" | |
| 1996 | Law & Order | Col. Alexander Rausch | Episode: "For God and Country" (Part I) |
| Homicide: Life on the Street | Col. Alexander Rausch | Episode: "For God and Country" (Part II) | |
| Swift Justice | Mel Turman | Episode: "Stones" | |
| The First Wives Club | Federal Marshal | ||
| Extreme Measures | Dr. Mingus | ||
| 1997 | Love Walked In | Mr. Shulman | |
| Spin City | Kevin Travis | Episode: "Hot in the City" | |
| Crossing Fields | Guy | ||
| The Jackal | FBI Agent T. I. Witherspoon | ||
| Anastasia | Ensemble and Character Vocals | ||
| Face Down | Herb Aames | TV Movie | |
| 1996, 1998 | New York Undercover | Sergeant Treadway | Episode: "Unis" |
| Psychologist | Episode: Mob Street | ||
| 1998 | Celebrity | Souvenir Hawker | |
| Remember WENN | Captain Amazon | Episode: "All's Noisy on the Pittsburgh Front" | |
| Above Freezing | Hoyd | ||
| 1999 | Hit and Runway | Ray Tilman | |
| The Cider House Rules | Ray Kendall | ||
| For Love of the Game | Frank Perry | ||
| I Lost My M in Vegas | Yellow | Voice Only | |
| Saturday Night Live | Vern Schillinger | Episode: "Jerry Seinfeld/David Bowie" | |
| 2000 | Third Watch | Frank Hagonon | Episode: "Demolition Derby" |
| Beautiful Joe | Unknown | Uncredited | |
| Autumn in New York | Dr. Tom Grandy | ||
| The Gift | Sheriff Pearl Johnson | ||
| 2001 | Disney's Recess | Various People | |
| 2000–2001 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Dr. Emil Skoda | 6 Episodes |
| 2002 | Homeward Bound | Jim Ashton | TV Movie |
| Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Dr. Emil Skoda | Episode: "Crazy" | |
| Spider-Man | J. Jonah Jameson | ||
| Path to War | CIA Briefer | TV Movie | |
| 1997–2003 | Oz | Vern Schillinger | 56 Episodes |
| 2003 | Disposal | Older Hunter | |
| Off the Map | George | ||
| John Doe | Lucas Doya | Episode: "The Rising" | |
| Everwood | Phil Drebbles | Episode: "Burden of Truth" | |
| 2004 | ER | Gus Loomer | Episode: "Impulse Control" |
| Hidalgo | Buffalo Bill Cody | ||
| The Ladykillers | Garth Pancake | ||
| The D.A. | Dep. Dist. Atty. Joe Carter | Episode: "The People vs. Sergius Kovinsky" Episode: "The People vs. Achmed Abbas" | |
| Without a Trace | Mark Wilson | Episode: "Two Families" | |
| The Jury | Ron Stalsukilis | Episode: "Last Rites" | |
| Spider-Man 2 | J. Jonah Jameson | ||
| Nip/Tuck | Ike Connors | Episode: "Kimber Henry" | |
| 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story | Ralph Earnhardt | TV Movie | |
| 1997–2004, 2010 | Law & Order | Dr. Emil Skoda | 45 Episodes |
| 2005 | Arrested Development | General Anderson | Episode: "Switch Hitter" |
| Jack & Bobby | Cyrus Miller | Episode: "Running Scared" | |
| Numb3rs | Dr. Clarence Weaver | Episode: "Vector" | |
| Thank You for Smoking | BR | ||
| Harsh Times | Agent Richards | ||
| 2004–2006 | Justice League | General Wade Eiling | Voice only 5 Episodes |
| 2006 | The West Wing | Harry Ravitch | Episode: "Duck and Cover" |
| First Snow | Vacaro | ||
| The Astronaut Farmer | Jacobson | ||
| 2006, 2007 | The Simpsons | J. Jonah Jameson | Voice only Episode: "Moe'N'a Lisa" |
| Tabloid Editor | Voice only Episode: "Homerazzi" | ||
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 | J. Jonah Jameson | |
| Spider-Man 3 | J. Jonah Jameson | Video game Voice only | |
| Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee | James McLaughlin | TV Movie | |
| Queens Supreme | Ernest Fingerman | Episode: "Let's Make a Deal" | |
| Kim Possible | Martin Smarty | Voice only 3 Episodes | |
| Postal | Candidate Welles | ||
| Juno | Mac MacGuff | ||
| Rendition | Lee Mayer | ||
| 2007, 2008 | American Dad! | Judge | Voice only Episode: "The Most Adequate Christmas Ever" |
| McCreary | Voice only Episode: "The One That Got Away" | ||
| 2008 | Phineas and Ferb | J.B. | Voice only Episode: "Toy to the World" |
| Burn After Reading | CIA Superior | ||
| Ben 10: Alien Force | Magister Ghilhil | Voice only Episode: "Darkstar Rising" | |
| Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 | President Howard T. Ackerman | Video game | |
| 2009 | The Vicious Kind | Donald Sinclaire | |
| New in Town | Stu Kopenhafer | ||
| The Way of War | Sergeant Mitchell | ||
| Red Sands | Lt. Col. Arson | ||
| I Love You, Man | Oswald Klaven | ||
| Aliens in the Attic | Skip | Voice Only | |
| Post Grad | Roy Davies | ||
| Extract | Brian | ||
| Up in the Air | Bob | ||
| Jennifer's Body | Mr. Wroblewski | ||
| The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack | Poseidon | Voice only 4 Episodes | |
| 2005–2010 | The Closer | Assistant Chief Will Pope | 88 Episodes |
| 2009–2010 | Party Down | Leonard Stiltskin | Episode: "Taylor Stiltskin Sweet Sixteen" Episode: "Precious Lights Pre-School Auction" |
| 2010 | Batman: The Brave and the Bold | Guardians of the Universe, Evil Star, Kyle "Ace" Morgan | Voice only Episode: "Revenge of the Reach!" |
| Ben 10: Ultimate Alien | Magister Ghilhil | Voice only Episode: "Escape From Aggregor" | |
| Generator Rex | White Knight | Voice only | |
| Crazy on the Outside | Ed | ||
| An Invisible Sign of My Own | Mr. Jones | Post-Production | |
| A Beginner's Guide to Endings | Unknown | Post-Production | |
| The Good Doctor | Unknown | Post-Production |
References[]
| File:Commons-logo.svg | Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons: Category:J. K. Simmons
| J. K. Simmons ]]. |
- ↑ "J. K. Simmons Biography". FilmReference.com.
- ↑ "Jonathan Kimble (“J. K.”) Simmons". rootsweb.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "J. K. Simmons Biography". Yahoo! Movies.
- ↑ Red Alert Universe > Factions > Factions, Units, & Characters, President Ackerman character information.
External links[]
- Template:Title without disambig at the Internet Movie Database
- J. K. Simmons at the Internet Broadway Database
- Jewno, a short film in which Simmons parodies his role in Juno
ar:جي كي سيمنس da:J.K. Simmons is:J. K. Simmons it:J.K. Simmons he:ג'. ק. סימונס nl:J.K. Simmons no:J.K. Simmons pt:J. K. Simmons ru:Симмонс, Джонатан Кимбл fi:J. K. Simmons sv:J.K. Simmons