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J.K. Simmons Poster

Biography

Jump to: Overview (3)  | Mini Bio (1)  | Family (4)  | Trade Mark (6)  | Trivia (26)  | Personal Quotes (11)

Overview (3)

Born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA
Birth NameJonathan Kimble Simmons
Height 5' 9½" (1.77 m)

Mini Bio (1)

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.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Mohamed_Ali

Family (4)

Spouse Michelle Schumacher (1996 - present)  (2 children)
Children Joe Simmons
Olivia Simmons
Parents Patricia Kimble
Donald William Simmons
Relatives Elizabeth Simmons O´Neill (sibling)
David Simmons (sibling)

Trade Mark (6)

Often plays leaders and authority figures
Often plays fathers and family men
The role of J. Jonah Jameson, Peter Parker/Spider-Man's hot-tempered boss.
Low-pitched, rolling voice
Often plays sharp-tongued and short-tempered men who intimidate other characters
Sharp, barking style

Trivia (26)

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 Ohio State University while residing in Worthington, OH. Remains a dedicated fan of Ohio State sports.
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.
Breakthrough role was as Vern Schillinger in HBO's first hour-long drama, the critically-acclaimed prison series Oz (1997).
(1/08) Attended the Critics' Choice Awards ceremony, and was interviewed by Canadian news show "E Talk" (2002).
In the well-known and very long-running television commercials for Farmer's Insurance, he portrays a professor at the seemingly fictional Farmer's University, which has labs or classrooms which teach students about disasters, accidents, and more. However, according to the Farmer's Insurance website: "If you become an agent, you'll find out firsthand: The University of Farmers is, in fact, a real place. Our award-winning training program focuses on the Four Business Basics: Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Financial Management. Our non-traditional insurance courses are what set us apart, including a car rotisserie and an all-weather model home.".
The name of his Farmer's Insurance television commercials character is Professor Nathaniel Burke, which was not spoken, but seen on the nameplate on his desk. This is also the name of the freight agent on Gunsmoke (1955) (played by Ted Jordan), though whether this is intentional isn't clear.
As of 2011, has worked with director Sam Raimi in five films: For Love of the Game (1999), The Gift (2000), Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007).
As of 2017, has appeared in six films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Cider House Rules (1999), Juno (2007), Up in the Air (2009), True Grit (2010), Whiplash (2014) and La La Land (2016).
Fluent in German. He learned it as part of his musical education. However, he has said that he is better at understanding than speaking it.
His hobbies include baseball and poker.
He was hospitalized because of a kidney stone after his role in New in Town (2009), for which he gained 40+ pounds.
Is one of 14 actors to win the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics' Choice Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award for the same performance. The others in chronological order are: Geoffrey Rush for Shine (1996), Jamie Foxx for Ray (2004), Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote (2005), Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland (2006), Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men (2007), Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007) and Lincoln (2012), Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008), Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009), Christopher Plummer for Beginners (2010), Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant (2015), Sam Rockwell for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), and Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour (2017).
Has played alongside Kyra Sedgwick as Asst. Police Chief Will Pope on the very successful television series The Closer (2005). Has appeared in every episode of the series' seven-year run.
Is a member of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity. He pledged the Delta Theta Chapter while attending the University of Montana (1975).
Has English, as well as Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Scottish, German, and Welsh ancestry.
He and wife Michelle are parents to Joe (b. 1999) and Olivia (b. 2002).

Personal Quotes (11)

[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.
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 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.
People evolve and it's important to not stop evolving just because you've reached "adulthood".
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.
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-'70s.
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.

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