Jefferson Mays
Known For
Acting
Born
1965-06-08 in Connecticut, USA
Biography
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).
Most Known For
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
as Carl Rudnick
Law & Order
as Mr. Olson
The Blacklist
as Norman Devane
The Good Wife
as Diplomat Van Buskirk
Fringe
as Nicholas Boone
Westworld
as Liam Dempsey, Sr.
The Closer
as Dr. Easton
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
as Keifer Gates
The Americans
as Walter Taffet
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
as Daddy (voice)
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
as Daddy
Hacks
as T.L. Gurley
Perry Mason
as Virgil Sheets
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
as Gilbert Longabaugh (segment "The Gal Who Got Rattled")
Julia
as Albert Duhamel
Inherent Vice
as Dr. Threeply
Rebuilding
as Mr. Cassidy
The Tragedy of Macbeth
as Doctor
The Giver
as Community (voice)
Liberty!
as James Madison