Tusk

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Lore & Background

Simmons achieved international fame with his role as J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), a role he reprised in various Marvel media unrelated to the Raimi trilogy, including multiple animated titles and the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. On television, he rose to prominence for playing white supremacist prisoner Vernon Schillinger on the HBO series Oz (1997–2003), the recurring role of Dr. Emil Skoda on the NBC series Law & Order (1997–2010), Assistant Police Chief Will Pope on the TNT series The Closer (2005–2012), and Howard Silk in the Starz series Counterpart (2017–2019).

In Their Own Story

In the 2014 drama film Whiplash, Simmons played Terence Fletcher, an intensely demanding and abusive bandleader at the fictional Shaffer Conservatory of Music, who bullies and cajoles his student, Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller). The wide acclaim for Simmons's performance included winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Rolling Stone said 'Beat the drums for an Oscar for Simmons.' Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times said 'Simmons delivers one of the most memorable performances of the year.' On January 11, 2015, Simmons won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, and he went on to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on February 22, 2015.

Reader's Guide

Simmons has appeared in numerous supporting roles in films such as The Cider House Rules (1999), Thank You for Smoking (2005), Juno (2007), Burn After Reading (2008), Up in the Air (2009), Jennifer's Body (2009), La La Land (2016), Justice League (2017), Palm Springs (2020), and Juror No. 2 (2024). He played two different interpretations of Santa Claus in Klaus (2019) and Red One (2024). As a voice actor, he has played the Yellow M&M in commercials since 1996, Cave Johnson in the video game Portal 2 (2011), Tenzin in The Legend of Korra (2012–2014), Stanford 'Ford' Pines in Gravity Falls (2015–2016), Nolan Grayson / Omni-Man in Invincible (2021–present), and General Ketheric Thorm in the video game Baldur's Gate 3 (2023).

Did You Know?

• Simmons was born on January 9, 1955, in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
• He graduated from the University of Montana in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music.
• He has voiced the Yellow M&M in commercials since 1996, replacing John Goodman.
• Simmons played Captain Hook in the 1991 revival of Peter Pan on Broadway.
• He played two different interpretations of Santa Claus in Klaus (2019) and Red One (2024).