Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
January 9, 1955
Place of Birth:
Detroit, Michigan, USA
Social Media
J.K. Simmons
Biography
Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor. He has been cited as one of the greatest contemporary character actors, and has appeared in over 200 film and television roles since his debut in 1986. He is an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Critics Choice Award winner, among other accolades.
His film roles include J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), tobacco industry executive B.R. in Thank You for Smoking (2005), Mac MacGuff in Juno (2007), music instructor Terence Fletcher in Whiplash (2014), Bill in La La Land (2016), William Frawley in Being the Ricardos (2021), and Commissioner James Gordon in the DC Extended Universe films Justice League (2017), Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), and Batgirl (2022). He reprised his role as Jameson in various Marvel media unrelated to the Sam Raimi trilogy, including multiple animated series and the Marvel Cinematic Universe/Sony's Spider-Man Universe films Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Spider-Man: No Way Home (both 2021), and the web series TheDailyBugle.net (2019; 2021).
On television, he is known for playing Dr. Emil Skoda on the NBC series Law & Order, white supremacist prisoner Vernon Schillinger on the HBO series Oz, and Assistant Police Chief Will Pope on TNT's The Closer. From 2017 to 2019, he starred as Howard Silk in the Starz series Counterpart. He has also appeared in a series of commercials for Farmers Insurance and starred in the third season of the IFC comedy series Brockmire. In 2020, he had recurring roles on the miniseries Defending Jacob and The Stand.
As a voice artist, he is known for voicing Cave Johnson in the video game Portal 2 (2011), 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), Pig Baby in Season 4 of the HBO Max animated series Infinity Train (2021), and Nolan “Omni-Man” Grayson in the Amazon Prime action animated series Invincible (2021). He has been the voice of the Yellow M&M since 1996.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | The Accountant² | Ray King |
| 2025 | The Fish Thief: A Great Lakes Mystery | Narrator |
| 2025 | Zootopia 2 | Mayor Leodore Lionheart (voice) |
| 2024 | You Can't Run Forever | Wade |
| 2024 | The Union | Tom Brennan |
| 2024 | Juror #2 | Harold |
| 2024 | Red One | Nick |
| 2024 | Saturday Night | Milton Berle |
| 2023 | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | J. Jonah Jameson (voice) |
| 2023 | The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart | Ben (voice) |
| 2023 | Little Brother | Warren Duffy |
| 2023 | Rally Road Racers | Gnash (voice) |
| 2023 | One Day as a Lion | Walter Boggs |
| 2022 | Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers | Captain Putty (voice) |
| 2022 | Glorious | Ghat (voice) |
| 2022 | Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home | Self (archive footage) |
| 2022 | Prophets of Change | Narrator |
| 2022 | Rivals: Ohio State vs. Michigan | Narrator |
| 2022 | Marmaduke | Zeus (voice) |
| 2022 | Hopper: An American Love Story | Edward Hopper (voice) |
| 2021 | Seal Team | Claggart (voice) |
| 2021 | Venom: Let There Be Carnage | J. Jonah Jameson (uncredited) |
| 2021 | Ghostbusters: Afterlife | Ivo Shandor |
| 2021 | The Tomorrow War | James Forester |
| 2021 | Zack Snyder's Justice League | Commissioner Gordon |
| 2021 | Being the Ricardos | William Frawley |
| 2021 | Rushing or Dragging | Terrence Fletcher (Archive Audio) |
| 2021 | National Champions | Coach James Lazor |
| 2021 | Ride the Eagle | Carl |
| 2021 | Spider-Man: No Way Home | J. Jonah Jameson |
| 2020 | Palm Springs | Roy |
| 2020 | Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens | Orville |
| 2019 | Fanboy | J.K. / Frank Perry |
| 2019 | Klaus | Klaus (voice) |
| 2019 | 21 Bridges | Captain Matt McKenna |
| 2019 | Spider-Man: Far From Home | J. Jonah Jameson |
| 2019 | 3 Days with Dad | Joey |
| 2018 | A Boy Called Sailboat | Ernest |
| 2018 | The Front Runner | Bill Dixon |
| 2018 | Detroit: Comeback City | Himself - Narrator |
| 2018 | The Boxcar Children: Surprise Island | Dr. Moore (voice) |
| 2018 | Drug$ | Narrator |
| 2017 | Punching Henry | Jay Warren |
| 2017 | Renegades | Levin |
| 2017 | All Nighter | Mr. Gallo |
| 2017 | Father Figures | Ronald Hunt |
| 2017 | The Snowman | Arve Støp |
| 2017 | Justice League | Commissioner James Gordon |
| 2017 | The Bachelors | Bill Palet |
| 2017 | I'm Not Here | Steve |
| 2017 | The Black Ghiandola | Ralph Aceto |
| 2016 | The Accountant | Ray King |
| 2016 | Rock Dog | Khampa (voice) |
| 2016 | The Meddler | Randall Zipper |
| 2016 | Zootopia | Mayor Leodore Lionheart (voice) |
| 2016 | Kung Fu Panda 3 | Kai (voice) |
| 2016 | Patriots Day | Sgt. Jeffrey Pugliese |
| 2016 | La La Land | Bill |
| 2016 | The Late Bloomer | James Newmans |
| 2015 | O.W.C.A. Files | Napoleon / Additional Voices (voice) |
| 2015 | Terminator Genisys | O'Brien |
| 2015 | Worlds Apart | Sebastian |
| 2014 | Break Point | Jack |
| 2014 | Barefoot | Dr. Bertleman |
| 2014 | Whiplash | Fletcher |
| 2014 | Murder of a Cat | Sheriff Frank Hoyle |
| 2014 | The Rewrite | Dr. Hal Lerner |
| 2014 | Men, Women & Children | Allison's Dad |
| 2014 | The Boxcar Children | Dr. Moore (voice) |
| 2014 | Ava & Lala | General Tiger (voice) |
| 2013 | Dark Skies | Edwin Pollard |
| 2013 | Jobs | Arthur Rock |
| 2013 | 3 Geezers! | J. Kimball |
| 2013 | Labor Day | Mr. Jervis |
| 2013 | Whiplash | Fletcher |
| 2013 | The Magic Bracelet | The Shaman |
| 2013 | The Heeler | Roscoe |
| 2012 | The Words | Mr. Jansen |
| 2012 | Contraband | Captain Camp |
| 2011 | The Music Never Stopped | Henry Sawyer |
| 2011 | Young Adult | Mavis' Publisher (voice) (uncredited) |
| 2011 | The Good Doctor | Detective Krauss |
| 2011 | Blackstone | Detective Burke |
| 2011 | Ben 10 - Generator Rex: Heroes United | White Knight (voice) |
| 2010 | Crazy on the Outside | Ed |
| 2010 | Megamind | Warden (voice) |
| 2010 | An Invisible Sign | Mr. Jones |
| 2010 | A Beginner's Guide to Endings | Uncle Pal |
| 2010 | True Grit | J. Noble Daggett (voice) (uncredited) |
| 2010 | Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore | Gruff K-9 (voice) |
| 2010 | 4192: The Crowning of the Hit King | Narrator (voice) |
| 2009 | Up in the Air | Bob |
| 2009 | Extract | Brian |
| 2009 | Post Grad | Roy Davies |
| 2009 | The Vicious Kind | Donald Sinclaire |
| 2009 | New in Town | Stu Kopenhafer |
| 2009 | The Way of War | Sergeant Mitchell |
| 2009 | I Love You, Man | Oswald Klaven |
| 2009 | Jennifer's Body | Mr. Wroblewski |
| 2009 | Aliens in the Attic | Skip (voice) |
| 2009 | Red Sands | Lt. Col. Arson |
| 2009 | Extract: Mike Judge's Secret Recipe | Self |
| 2008 | Burn After Reading | CIA Superior |
| 2008 | Walt Whitman | Narrator (voice) |
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 | J. Jonah Jameson |
| 2007 | Rendition | Lee Mayer |
| 2007 | Juno | Mac MacGuff |
| 2007 | Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee | James McLaughlin |
| 2007 | The Astronaut Farmer | Jacobson |
| 2007 | Postal | Candidate Welles |
| 2006 | First Snow | Vacaro |
| 2005 | Harsh Times | Agent Richards |
| 2005 | Thank You for Smoking | BR |
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | J. Jonah Jameson |
| 2004 | Hidalgo | Buffalo Bill Cody |
| 2004 | The Ladykillers | Garth Pancake |
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2: Making the Amazing | Self |
| 2004 | 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story | Ralph Earnhardt |
| 2004 | Broadway's Lost Treasures II | Benny Southstreet (segment "Guys & Dolls") |
| 2003 | Off the Map | George |
| 2003 | Path to War | CIA Briefer |
| 2003 | Disposal | Older Hunter |
| 2002 | Spider-Man | J. Jonah Jameson |
| 2001 | The Mexican | Ted Slocum |
| 2001 | Starwater | |
| 2000 | The Gift | Sheriff Pearl Johnson |
| 2000 | Autumn in New York | Dr. Tom Grandy |
| 1999 | Hit and Runway | Ray Tilman |
| 1999 | The Cider House Rules | Ray Kendall |
| 1999 | For Love of the Game | Frank Perry |
| 1998 | Celebrity | Souvenir Hawker |
| 1998 | Above Freezing | Hoyd |
| 1998 | Crossing Fields | Guy |
| 1997 | The Jackal | FBI Agent T. I. Witherspoon |
| 1997 | Love Walked In | Mr. Shulman |
| 1997 | Face Down | Herb Aames |
| 1997 | Anastasia | Ensemble and Character Vocals (voice) |
| 1996 | Extreme Measures | Dr. Mingus |
| 1996 | The First Wives Club | Federal Marshall |
| 1994 | The Ref | Siskel |
| 1994 | The Scout | Assistant Coach |
| 1992 | Guys and Dolls: Off the Record | Himself / Benny Southstreet |
| 1986 | Popeye Doyle | Patrolman in Park |
| Hypergalactic | (voice) | |
| The Prince | ||
| Spaceman | ||
| The Tomorrow War 2 | Slade | |
| 109 Billion Followers | ||
| Reykjavik | George Shultz | |
| Heart of the Beast |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Ren & Stimpy | Lint (voice) |
| 2022 | Night Sky | Franklin York |
| 2021 | The Great North | Tusk Johnson (voice) |
| 2021 | INVINCIBLE | Nolan Grayson / Omni-Man (voice) |
| 2020 | Home Movie: The Princess Bride | The Grandfather |
| 2020 | Coronavirus, Explained | Self - Narrator |
| 2020 | Defending Jacob | Billy Barber |
| 2020 | The Stand | General Starkey |
| 2020 | Die Hart | Jackson Pepper |
| 2019 | The Kelly Clarkson Show | Self |
| 2019 | The Kelly Clarkson Show | |
| 2018 | Explained | Narrator (voice) |
| 2017 | Robert Kirkman's Secret History of Comics | Self |
| 2017 | Counterpart | Howard Silk |
| 2017 | No Activity | Leo |
| 2017 | Brockmire | Matt "The Bat" Hardesty |
| 2016 | Goliath | George Zax |
| 2015 | Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter | Self |
| 2015 | Major Lazer | President Whitewall (voice) |
| 2015 | What Lives Inside | Benjamin 'Pops' Delaney |
| 2014 | Growing Up Fisher | Mel Fisher |
| 2014 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Voice Over (voice) |
| 2014 | Variety Studio: Actors on Actors | Self |
| 2014 | BoJack Horseman | Lenny Turtletaub (voice) |
| 2014 | Wild Hawaii | Narrator (voice) |
| 2014 | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Self |
| 2013 | Family Tools | |
| 2013 | LEGO MARVEL Super Heroes: Maximum Overload | J. Jonah Jameson (voice) |
| 2013 | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Frank Dillman |
| 2012 | Men At Work | P.J. Jordan |
| 2012 | The Legend of Korra | Tenzin (voice) |
| 2012 | Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man | J. Jonah Jameson (voice) |
| 2012 | Gravity Falls | Stanford Pines (voice) |
| 2012 | Best Friends Forever | Don |
| 2011 | Desert Car Kings | Himself - Narrator |
| 2011 | NTSF:SD:SUV:: | Frank Forrest |
| 2010 | The Talk | Self - Guest |
| 2010 | Ben 10: Ultimate Alien | Magister Gilhil / Plumber (voice) |
| 2010 | Pound Puppies | Lt. Rock (voice) |
| 2010 | Pound Puppies | Mr. Withers (voice) |
| 2010 | The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes | J. Jonah Jameson (voice) |
| 2010 | Raising Hope | Bruce Chance |
| 2009 | Party Down | Leonard Stiltskin |
| 2009 | Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen | Self - Guest |
| 2009 | Archer | Detective (voice) |
| 2009 | Parks and Recreation | Mayor Stice |
| 2008 | Batman: The Brave and the Bold | Guardian (voice) |
| 2007 | Phineas and Ferb | Napoleon (voice) |
| 2007 | Phineas and Ferb | J.B. (voice) |
| 2005 | American Dad! | Judge (voice) |
| 2005 | The Closer | Will Pope |
| 2005 | American Dad! | Dean of CIA Academy (voice) |
| 2005 | American Dad! | Gene (voice) |
| 2005 | American Dad! | Jed Farnsworth (voice) |
| 2004 | Jack & Bobby | |
| 2004 | The Jury | |
| 2004 | The D.A. | Dep. Dist. Atty. Joe Carter |
| 2004 | Justice League Unlimited | Eiling (voice) |
| 2004 | Justice League Unlimited | General Eiling (voice) |
| 2004 | Veronica Mars | Clyde Pickett |
| 2003 | Nip/Tuck | |
| 2003 | Arrested Development | General Anderson |
| 2002 | John Doe | |
| 2002 | Everwood | Phil Drebbles |
| 2002 | Without a Trace | Mark Wilson |
| 2002 | Kim Possible | Martin Smarty (voice) |
| 2002 | Kim Possible | Martin Smarty / Additional voices (voice) |
| 2001 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Emil Skoda |
| 1999 | Third Watch | Frank Hagedorn |
| 1999 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Dr. Emil Skoda |
| 1999 | The West Wing | Harry Ravitch |
| 1997 | Oz | Vernon Schillinger |
| 1996 | Spin City | Kevin |
| 1996 | Remember WENN | 'Captain Amazon' |
| 1995 | New York News | |
| 1994 | New York Undercover | |
| 1994 | ER | Gus Loomer |
| 1993 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Alexander Rausch |
| 1990 | Law & Order | Emil Skoda |
| 1990 | Law & Order | Jerry Luppin |
| 1989 | The Simpsons | Victor Kleskow (voice) |
| 1989 | The Simpsons | Tabloid Editor (voice) |
| 1989 | The Simpsons | J. Jonah Jameson (voice) |
| 1989 | The Simpsons | JJ Gruff (voice) |
| 1989 | The Simpsons | Dr. Jessup (voice) |
| 1986 | American Masters | Edward Hopper |
| 1975 | Saturday Night Live | Self - Host |
| 1975 | Saturday Night Live | Self - Cameo (uncredited) |
| 1953 | The Oscars | Self |
| The Westies | Eamon Sweeney |