J.K. Simmons
Biography
Life Story
J.K. Simmons is an American actor.
He was born Jonathan Kimble Simmons in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, to Patricia (Kimble), an administrator, and Donald William Simmons, a music teacher. He attended the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; University of Montana, Missoula, MT (BA in Music).
He had originally planned to be a singer and studied at the University of Montana to become a composer.
He starred as Captain Hook and Mr. Darling opposite gymnastics champ Cathy Rigby in the Broadway and touring revivals of Peter Pan.
He played Benny South-street in the 1992 Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls and can be heard on the cast recording.
He did a commercial voice-over work, including the voice of the yellow M&M in the candy's TV ads.
He appeared as police psychiatrist Emil Skoda on Law & Order (1990), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001).
As of 2011, has made five films with director Sam Raimi: For Love of the Game (1999); The Gift (2000); Spider-Man (2002); Spider-Man 2 (2004); and Spider-Man 3 (2007).
He won many awards from 2005 to 2007 in Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2014 won Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. 2015 won a Golden Globe for his Best Performance as an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, BAFTA Film Awards Best Supporting Actor, Independent Spirit Awards Best Supporting Male.
Family
Trivia
He is the father of two children. He has a sister, Elizabeth Simmons O'Neill, and a brother, David.
Is the voice of the yellow peanut M&M on the commercials since the late 1990s, replacing John Goodman after the original 1995 commercials. In 2000, a video game was produced, M&M's: The Lost Formulas (2000), in which he portrayed Yellow Peanut.
Does voice-over work for Norelco razors.
Attended and graduated from the University of Montana. Received an Achievement Award for the university in April 2002. Studied to become a composer before getting to musicals and acting.
His character Dr. Emil Skoda is one of the few Law & Order (1990) recurring characters to span all three incarnations: the original series; Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001) (the medical examiner, Elizabeth Rodgers (Leslie Hendrix), has also appeared on all three series).
Before playing police psychiatrist Dr. Emil Skoda on Law & Order (1990), he played a fanatical nut-case suspect on a crossover episode of Law & Order (1990) and Homicide: Life on the Street (1993). He is among the few recurring members to have a guest spot as one character on a "Law & Order" series before going on to play a different character in the L&O universe (others include S. Epatha Merkerson and Jerry Orbach). Ice-T played a criminal who met a "striking" fate in Exiled (1998) before going on to star as Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).
Attended the Ohio State University while residing in Worthington, Ohio. Still remains a huge fan of Ohio State sports today.
Has appeared in four films with Bruce Campbell. The first two were Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man 2 (2004), both directed by Sam Raimi. The third was The Ladykillers (2004) directed by Ethan Coen, who frequently collaborates with Raimi, followed by another appearance with Campbell in Raimi's Spider-Man 3 (2007).
Played the manager of his hometown pro baseball team, the Detroit Tigers, in For Love of the Game (1999).
Wore a wig to play J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man films.
Met his wife, Michelle Schumacher, during a tour of "Peter Pan".
Has been in most of the feature films of Jason Reitman.
Has played the same character (Dr. Emil Skoda) in four different series: Law & Order (1990), New York Undercover (1994), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001).
Personal Quotes
[on his career] If I had any other talent or salable commodity I probably would have gone into it. I mean, aside from the modelling, yeah.
I never listened to the Grateful Dead as a teen; the only exposure I got was what came through the walls when my sister was listening to them.
I'm not a fan of any genre but am a fan of movies that are intelligent and/or funny. That goes across all genres: a horror movie, a zombie movie, alien invaders, chick flick, or raunchy comedy. If it's well done, I'm a fan.
I like to act. Every other aspect of show business I find uninteresting.
People evolve and it's important to not stop evolving just because you've reached 'adulthood'.
The best compliment I ever got from the public or producers or directors is that I just totally blend in and become the character and they don't notice me and that the play happens or the movie happens or the television show happens.
I actually have a degree in music and was aware that music was a tool used in therapy. I didn't realize how far it had come since I was in college in the mid-seventies.
I was not a giant comic book fan as a kid, but to the extent that I did read comics, Spider-Man was always my favorite guy.
[on winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Whiplash (2014)] Wow, thank you. Thank you to the Academy. Thank you to everyone involved in the making of Whiplash (2014). And I am grateful everyday for the most remarkable person I know: my wife, the wonderful Michelle Schumacher. I'm grateful for your love, your kindness, your wisdom, your sacrifice and your patience. Which brings me to the above-average children-even though I may try their patience more. Joe and Olivia, you are extraordinary human beings. Smart, funny, kind, loving people and that's because you are a reflection of your mother. And if I may, call your mom, everybody. I've told this to, like, a billion people, or so. Call your mom, call your dad. If you're lucky enough to have a parent or two alive on this planet, call 'em. Don't text. Don't email. Call them on the phone. Tell 'em you love 'em, and thank them, and listen to them for as long as they want to talk to you. Thank you. Thank you, Mom and Dad.
To me that kind of just means, he's not as good-looking as George Clooney. He's not number one on the call sheet, and he's not the leading man. It is [...] superfluous in a way.
You know, my general philosophy of playing bad guys, which I've sort of done, you know, half the time is, you know, very few people who we view as bad guys get out of bed and think what evil, terrible thing am I going to do today? Most people see their motivations as justified - as, you know, justifying whatever they do. And that's what I try to go with.
