J.K. Simmons

J.K. Simmons is known as an American actor. He is most famous for his roles in Law & Order and Oz.

Background

Jonathan Kimble Simmons was born on January 9, 1955 in Grosse Pointe, MI. Simmons was born as the child of a music educator. He studied music at the University of Montana. He got intrigued by theater and was a member of the Seattle Repertory Theater, where he acted in such plays as The Fantasticks and An Enemy of the People. He then moved to New York City, where he appeared in the musical Birds of Paradise in 1987. Simmons performed on Broadway in A Change in the Heir (1990) and Peter Pan (1991–92).

Wife and Kids

J. K. Simmons is happily married to Michelle Schumacher. She works as an actor, singer, and dancer. They met each other during a tour of Peter Pan. Together with Michelle, the loving couple has two children. They have a son named Joe and a daughter named Olivia.

Career and Net Worth

Simmons started to raise his profile when he appeared as Dr. Emil Skoda on the TV series, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, and Law and Order: Criminal Intent. Simmons won even more recognition for his depiction of the awful racial oppressor Vern Schillinger in the jail drama TV series Oz on HBO. He played the newspaper editor, J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Spider-Man 3 (2007). He appeared in Jason Reitman's satiric film Thank You for Smoking (2005), and he depicted the father of the title character in Reitman's Juno (2007). Simmons again worked with Reitman in Up in the Air featuring George Clooney. It was Reitman who recommended Simmons to Chazelle for the part of Terence Fletcher in Whiplash. Simmons earned a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for his performance. Chazelle additionally cast him in the musical film La Land (2016).

Simmons featured with Kyra Sedgwick in the crime drama series The Closer from 2005 to 2012. He featured in the brief sitcom Growing Up Fisher (2014). He had repeating roles on such shows as Brockmire and Veronica Mars. As a voice worker, he acted in animated series like Justice League Unlimited (2004–06), Kim Possible (2007), and American Dad! (2007–11).

In January 2020, it was announced that the film, Klaus was added to the Oscar nominations list for the Best Animated Feature category. Simmons has a leading role in the film as the voice of Klaus.