Jonathan Kimble "J. K." Simmons is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Dr. Emil
Skoda on the NBC series Law & Order, neo-Nazi Vernon Schillinger on the HBO prison drama
series Oz, Assistant Police Chief Will Pope on the TNT series The Closer, J. Jonah Jameson
in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, and the voice of Cave Johnson in the 2011 puzzle game
Portal 2.
Early life Simmons was born in Detroit, Michigan, the
son of administrator Patricia and college professor Donald William Simmons. He was raised
in Columbus, Ohio and Missoula, Montana, and attended the University of Montana. He was
a member of the Seattle Repertory Theatre. Career
Musical theatre Simmons was a Broadway actor and singer. He
played Benny Southstreet in the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls, and in 1994, he sang multiple
roles in the Wagner opera satire, Das Barbecu. He also played the role of Jigger in a revival
of Carousel with the Houston Grand Opera and starred in the 1987 Off-Broadway musical Birds
of Paradise. Film and television roles
Simmons is known for his television 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 sadistic neo-Nazi 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. He played Will Pope, Assistant Chief
of the LAPD, in The Closer. Simmons also played J. Jonah Jameson in all
three of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films and the expanded video game adaptation of Spider-Man
3. He 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. Similarly, Simmons voiced an editor-in-chief of a newspaper for
a 2013 episode of The Hub's Pound Puppies. Simmons also provides the voice of the yellow
M&M in the product's commercials, as well as the 3-D film I Lost My M in Vegas, playing
at M&M's World in Las Vegas. 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. He 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 had a small role as an army general in the
television sitcom Arrested Development. 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 part as a CIA
Superior in Burn After Reading and appeared in Postal as Candidate Wells. He has been
featured as Professor Nathaniel Burke of the University of Farmers in television commercials
for Farmers Insurance Group, beginning in 2010. He also appeared in I Love You, Man.
Simmons is known for starring in films that are produced or directed by his friend Jason
Reitman, including Thank You for Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air, and Jennifer's Body.
He also lent his voice to Reitman's film Young Adult, voicing the protagonist's boss through
a series of voicemails. In 2013, he had a small role as Mr. Jervis in Reitman's film
Labor Day. He voices Tenzin, an Airbending master and the son of Aang and Katara, in
the 2012 Nickelodeon series The Legend of Korra. He has resumed his role as the voice
of J. Jonah Jameson in the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man and in The Avengers: Earth's
Mightiest Heroes. He said he would like to reprise the role again in Marc Webb's The
Amazing Spider-Man series, a reboot of the Spider-Man film series. He starred as blind
lawyer "Mel Fisher" in Growing Up Fisher. In 2014, Simmons received critical acclaim
for his performance as an antagonistic jazz maestro in Damien Chazelle's Whiplash.
Video games Simmons has 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 an alternative to other, unnamed presidential
candidates and used the slogan "Vote for me, if you want to live." In April 2011, he appeared
in Portal 2 as the voice of Aperture Science founder Cave Johnson, a performance that was
lauded as the "surprise star turn" of the game.
Personal life In 1996, Simmons married Michelle Schumacher,
with whom he has three children. His brother, David, is a singer-songwriter, and his sister,
Elizabeth, is a professor at the University of Washington.
Filmography Film
Television Video game
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