J. K. Simmons

J. K. Simmons
Simmons at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Jonathan Kimble Simmons January 9, 1955 (1955-01-09) (age 54) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–present

Jonathan Kimble "J. K." Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Dr. Emil Skoda in various series of the Law & Order universe, Neo-Nazi Vernon Schillinger in the HBO prison drama Oz, and his role as J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man film series, as well as various other television and film roles.

Biography

Early 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 career

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 at the Houston Grand Opera.

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 and has 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.

He has recently appeared in the video game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 as the anti-communist U. S. President Howard T. Ackerman.

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 and Jennifer's Body, written by Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody.

Filmography

• Pom Poko (1994) - Seizaemon
• The Ref (1994) - Lt. Siskel
• Oz (1997) (TV series) - Vernon Schillinger
• The Jackal (1997) - Witherspoon
• Celebrity (1998) - Souvenir Hawker
• The Cider House Rules (1999) - Ray Kendall
• For Love of the Game (2000) - Frank Perry
• Autumn in New York (2000) - Dr. Tom Grandy
• The Gift (2000) - Sheriff Pearl Johnson
• The Mexican (2001) - Ted Slocum
• Law & Order: SVU (2000 - 2001) (TV series) - Dr. Emil Skoda
• Spider-Man (2002) - J. Jonah Jameson
• Off the Map (2003) - George
• Hidalgo (2004) - Buffalo Bill Cody
• The Ladykillers (2004) - Garth Pancake
• Spider-Man 2 (2004) - J. Jonah Jameson
• 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story (2004) - Ralph Earnhardt
• Harsh Times (2005) - Agent Richards
• The Closer (2005) (TV series) - Asst. Police Chief Will Pope
• Thank You for Smoking (2006) - Budd "BR" Rohrabacher
• First Snow (2006) - Vacaro
• The West Wing (2006) ("Duck and Cover") - Harry Ravitch
• The Astronaut Farmer (2006) - FAA Director Jacobson
• Justice League Unlimited (2006) (TV series) - General Wade Eiling, Mantis
• The Simpsons (2006) ("Moe'N'a Lisa") - voice of J. Jonah Jameson
• The Simpsons (2007) ("Homerazzi") - voice of tabloid editor
• Spider-Man 3 (2007) - J. Jonah Jameson
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007) - James McLaughlin
• Rendition (2007) - Lee Mayer
• Juno (2007) - Mac MacGuff
• Postal (2007) - Candidate Wells
• Burn After Reading (2008) - CIA Superior
• The Way Of War (2008) - Sergeant Mitchell
• Ben 10: Alien Force (2008) (TV series) - Magister Gilhil
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (2008) (VG) - President Howard T. Ackerman
• New in Town (2009) - Stu Kopenhafer
• The Vicious Kind (2009) - Donald Sinclaire
• I Love You, Man (2009) - Oswald Klaven
• Aliens in the Attic (2009) - voice of Skip
• Jennifer's Body (2009) - Mr. Wroblewski
• Crazy on the Outside (2009) - TBA
• Extract (2009) - Brian
• An Invisible Sign of My Own (2009) - Mr. Jones
• Spider-Man 4 (2011) - J. Jonah Jameson

References

External links

• J. K. Simmons 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