Jefferson Mays
Jefferson Mays (born Lewis Jefferson Mays; June 8, 1965) is an American film, stage and television actor. Mays was raised in Clinton, Connecticut with his parents, a naval intelligence officer and a children's librarian, and his siblings. Mays graduated from Yale College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, and the University of California, San Diego, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts. Mays appeared on Broadway in I Am My Own Wife, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Doug Wright, from November 2003 (previews) to October 31, 2004. He had appeared in the play Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in May 2003, and at the La Jolla Playhouse in July 2001. Mays won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, the 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show, an Obie Award, and a 2004 Theatre World Award for his solo performance. He also won the 2007 Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Play for seasons of I Am My Own Wife in Australia in 2006. In 2007, he appeared as Henry Higgins in a revival of Pygmalion and starred as Private Mason in a revival of Journey's End. In August 2009, Mays appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Quartermaine's Terms by Simon Grey. Mays starred in the 2013 Broadway musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, in which he played eight roles. He won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He also was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical and tied for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical (with Neil Patrick Harris).
Known For
Credits
- 2023 · Seneca: On the Creation of Earthquakes as Narrator (voice)
- 2022 · Julia as Albert Duhamel
- 2021 · The Tragedy of Macbeth as Doctor
- 2021 · Hacks as T.L. Gurley
- 2020 · Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol as Narrator
- 2020 · Perry Mason as Virgil Sheets
- 2019 · I Am the Night as George Hodel
- 2018 · The Ballad of Buster Scruggs as Gilbert Longabaugh (segment "The Gal Who Got Rattled")
- 2018 · Curated as The Curator
- 2017 · Rebel in the Rye as William Maxwell
- 2016 · Westworld as Liam Dempsey, Sr.
- 2015 · Ned Rifle as Dr. Ford
- 2015 · Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as Daddy (voice)
- 2015 · Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as Daddy
- 2015 · I Am Michael as Preacher Teacher
- 2014 · Inherent Vice as Dr. Threeply
- 2014 · The Raven as Voice over (voice)
- 2014 · The Cask of Amontillado as Fortunato
- 2014 · The Giver as Community (voice)
- 2014 · My America as
- 2013 · The Blacklist as Norman Devane
- 2013 · The Americans as Walter Taffet
- 2009 · The Good Wife as Diplomat Van Buskirk
- 2008 · How to Lose Friends & Alienate People as Bill Nathanson
- 2008 · Fringe as Nicholas Boone
- 2005 · The Notorious Bettie Page as Little John
- 2005 · The Closer as Dr. Easton
- 2005 · The Fight as
- 2004 · Alfie as Dr. Miranda Kulp
- 2002 · Benjamin Franklin as Elkanah Watson
- 2001 · Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Keifer Gates
- 1999 · Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Carl Rudnick
- 1999 · The Big Brass Ring as Garne Strickland
- 1998 · Cousin Bette as Stidmann
- 1997 · Hudson River Blues as
- 1997 · Liberty! as James Madison
- 1995 · The Low Life as Hollywood Mogul
- 1994 · Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade as Gerry Woolridge
- 1990 · Law & Order as Mr. Olson
- Future · Rebuilding as