Jefferson Mays

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

Mays was raised in Clinton, Connecticut, with his parents, a naval intelligence officer and a children's librarian, and his siblings.^[2] 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 from the graduate acting program.^[3][2] He appeared at La Jolla Playhouse,^[4] Long Wharf Theatre,^[5] the Williamstown Theatre Festival,^[6] and Playwrights Horizons.^[7]

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.^[8] He had appeared in the play Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in May 2003,^[7] and at the La Jolla Playhouse in July 2001.^[4] 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.^[8] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Mays starred in two Broadway revivals in 2007. He appeared as Henry Higgins in Pygmalion,^[9] in which he won critical praise. The TheaterMania reviewer called him "pitch-perfect", and the production an "excellent revival".^[10] He appeared in a revival of Journey's End in February to June 2007, in which he starred as Private Mason.^[11] Ben Brantley, in The New York Times, called the production "acutely staged and acted."^[12] The TheaterMania reviewer wrote: "Mays is a reliable, obliging Mason."^[13]

In August 2009, Mays appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Quartermaine's Terms by Simon Grey.^[6][14]

Mays starred in the 2013 Broadway musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, in which he played nine roles. He performed in the musical from October 2013 (previews) until closing on January 17, 2016.^[15][16][17] He won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.^[18] He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical^[19] and tied for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical (with Neil Patrick Harris).^[17][20] Mays played Terje Rød-Larsen in the Broadway play Oslo, for which he received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination. Mays played Mayor George Shinn in the 2022 Broadway revival of The Music Man.^[21]

Mays also narrates audiobooks, including The Expanse series,^[22][23][24] The Invention of Sound by Chuck Palahniuk^[25][26] and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said.^[27] His narration was recognized by an Audie Award and a number of Earphones Awards.^[28][29]

Mays has appeared in several television programs as well; he notably appeared in several episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as cross-dressing murderer Carl Rudnick, and as Black Dahlia suspect George Hodel in the Turner Network Television miniseries I Am the Night. His television credits include Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, The Americans, and Hacks.^{[citation needed]}

Mays is married to Australian actress Susan Lyons.^[3]

Film

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1993	Ghost Brigade	Martin Bradley
1994	Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade	Gerry Woolridge	Short film	[30]
1995	The Low Life	Hollywood Mogul		[31]
1997	Hudson River Blues	Eric
1998	Cousin Bette	Stidmann		[32]
1999	The Big Brass Ring	Garne Strickland		[33]
2004	Kinsey	Effete Man's Friend		[34]
2004	Alfie	Dr. Miranda Kulp		[35]
2005	The Notorious Bettie Page	Little John		[36]
2006	Memoirs of My Nervous Illness	Daniel Schreber
2008	How to Lose Friends & Alienate People	Bill Nathanson
2014	The Giver	Community (voice)
2014	Inherent Vice	Dr. Threeply
2014	Ned Rifle	Dr. Ford		[37]
2015	I Am Michael	Preacher Teacher
2017	Rebel in the Rye	William Maxwell
2018	The Ballad of Buster Scruggs	Gilbert Longabaugh	Segment: "The Gal Who Got Rattled"
2021	The Tragedy of Macbeth	Doctor
2025	Rebuilding	Mr. Cassidy
TBA	The Panic	Teddy Roosevelt	Post-production

Close

Television

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1988	Dynaman	Dynabeige (voice)
1991	A Week in Joe's Basement	Alex	Episode: "Remote Control"
1997	Liberty! The American Revolution	James Madison	6 episodes
2002	Benjamin Franklin	Elkanah Watson	3 episodes
2005	The Closer	Dr. Easton	Episode: "Fatal Retraction"
2008	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Keifer Gates	Episode: "Legacy"
2009	Law & Order	Attorney Olsen	Episode: "Pledge"
2009	Fringe	Nicholas Boone	Episode: "Midnight"
2010	Nurse Jackie	Tim	Episode: "P.O. Box"
2010	God in America	Jeremiah Moore	Episode: "A New Adam/A New Eden"
2010	Lie to Me	Sidney Carlton	Episode: "Double Blind"
2010	Detroit 1-8-7	Dr. Roger Kosowski	2 episodes
2011	Mildred Pierce	Man in Blue Coat	Episode: "Four"
2011	The Good Wife	Diplomat Van Buskirk	Episode: "Affairs of State"
2012	My America	Performer	Episode: "Fire in Dreamland"
2014–2016	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Dr. Carl Rudnick	7 episodes
2015	The Americans	Walter Taffet	4 episodes	[38]
2015	The Knick	Attorney Whitting	Episode: "You're No Rose"	[39]
2015–2016	Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt	Daddy	2 episodes	[40]
2019	I Am the Night	George Hodel	6 episodes
2019	The Blacklist	Norman Devane	Episode: "Norman Devane (No. 138)"
2020	Westworld	Liam Dempsey Sr.	Episode: "Genre"
2020	Perry Mason	Virgil Sheets	5 episodes
2021, 2026	Hacks	T.L. Gurley	2 episodes
2022–2023	Julia	P. Albert Duhamel	8 episodes

Close

Theatre

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Ref.
1992	Bella, Belle of Byelorussia	Sergei/Vladivostok Jimmy	WPA Theatre, Off-Broadway
1994	Moe's Lucky Seven	Mokie	Playwrights Horizons, Off-Broadway
1995	Quills	Abbé de Coulmier	New York Theatre Workshop, Off-Broadway
1998	Culture of Desire	Diana Vreeland	New York Theatre Workshop, Off-Broadway
2000	Lydie Breeze, Parts I & II	Jeremiah Grady	New York Theatre Workshop, Off-Broadway
2003	I Am My Own Wife	Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, et al.	Playwrights Horizons, Off-Broadway
2003			Lyceum Theatre, Broadway
2007	Journey's End	Private Mason	Belasco Theatre, Broadway
2007	Pygmalion	Henry Higgins	American Airlines Theatre, Broadway
2010	Measure for Measure	Duke Vincentio	The Duke on 42nd Street, Off-Broadway
2011	Blood and Gifts	Simon Craig	Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, Off-Broadway	[41]
2012	The Best Man	Sheldon Marcus	Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway	[42]
2012	A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder	The D'Ysquith Family	Hartford Stage
2013			Old Globe Theatre
2013			Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway	[43]
2016	Oslo	Terje Rød-Larsen	Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, Off-Broadway
2016	The Front Page	Roy V. Bensinger	Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway
2017	Oslo	Terje Rød-Larsen	Vivian Beaumont Theater, Broadway
2018	A Christmas Carol	Various Characters	Geffen Playhouse
2021	The Music Man	Mayor George Shinn	Winter Garden Theatre, Broadway
2022	A Christmas Carol	Various Characters	Nederlander Theatre, Broadway
2026	Amadeus	Antonio Salieri	Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena, CA

Close