Lewis Jefferson Mays (born June 8, 1965) is an American actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

, a

Helen Hayes Award The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...

, a

Lucille Lortel Award The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatre ...

, two Drama Desk Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and three Obie Awards.

Life and career

Mays was raised in

Clinton, Connecticut Clinton is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population of the town was 13,185 at the 2020 census. The town center along the shore line was listed as a census-designated place (CDP) by the U.S. Census Bureau in the 2020 ...

, with his parents, a naval intelligence officer and a children's librarian, and his siblings.Rizzo, Frank
"The Earnest Jefferson Mays"
''Hartford Courant'', January 25, 2004 Mays graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree, and the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts from the graduate acting program. He appeared at

La Jolla Playhouse La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. History La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...

, Long Wharf Theatre, the

Williamstown Theatre Festival The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a resident summer theater on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Williams College news director Ralph Renzi and drama program chairman David C. Bryant. I ...

,"Jefferson Mays Stars in 'Quartermaine's Terms' at Williamstown"
Playbill, August 15, 2009 and

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. Under the ...

. Mays appeared on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in ''

I Am My Own Wife ''I Am My Own Wife'' is a play by Doug Wright based on his conversations with the German antiquarian Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. The one-man play premiered Off-Broadway in 2003 at Playwrights Horizons. It opened on Broadway later that year. The p ...

'', a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Doug Wright, from November 2003 (previews) to October 31, 2004." 'I Am My Own Wife' Broadway"
Playbill (vault), accessed June 9, 2016 He had appeared in the play Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in May 2003,Jones, Kenneth
" 'I Am My Own Wife', Doug Wright's Tale of a European Transvestite's Life, Opens May 27 in NYC"
Playbill, May 27, 2003 and at the

in July 2001.Ehren, Christine
"La Jolla Playhouse Workshops Wright's 'I Am My Own Wife' July 10-29"
Playbill, July 10, 2001 Mays won the 2004

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality leading roles in a Broadway p ...

, the 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show, an Obie Award, and a 2004

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre se ...

for his solo performance. He also won the 2007

Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Play The Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Play is an award presented by Live Performance Australia (LPA) (the trade name for the Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA)), an employers' organisation which serves as the peak body ...

for seasons of ''I Am My Own Wife'' in Australia in 2006. Mays starred in two Broadway revivals in 2007. He appeared as Henry Higgins in '' Pygmalion'', in which he won critical praise. The TheaterMania reviewer called him "pitch-perfect", and the production an "excellent revival". He appeared in a revival of '' Journey's End'' in February to June 2007, in which he starred as Private Mason.

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 to ...

, in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', called the production "acutely staged and acted." The TheaterMania reviewer wrote: "Mays is a reliable, obliging Mason." In August 2009, Mays appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in ''

Quartermaine's Terms ''Quartermaine's Terms'' is a play by Simon Gray which won The Cheltenham Prize in 1982. Plot The play takes place over a period of two years in the 1960s in the staffroom at a Cambridge school for teaching English to foreigners. It deals wi ...

'' by Simon Grey. 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. He won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He was nominated for the

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is awarded to the actor who was voted as the best actor in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival. The award has been given since 1948, but the nominees who did no ...

and tied for the

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in the theatre among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions. The awards were established in 1955, wi ...

(with Neil Patrick Harris)." 'A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder' Broadway"
Playbill (vault), accessed June 9, 2016 Mays played Terje Rød-Larsen in the Broadway play ''

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

'', for which he received a

Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality leading roles in a Broadway p ...

nomination. Mays is set to play Mayor George Shinn in the upcoming revival of ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...

'' opening on Broadway in 2022. Mays also narrates audiobooks, including '' The Expanse'' series and "The Invention of Sound" by Chuck Palahniuk. 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 Elizabeth Short (July 29, 1924 – January 14–15, 1947), known posthumously as the Black Dahlia, was an American woman found murdered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 15, 1947. Her case became highly publicized ow ...

suspect

George Hodel George Hill Hodel Jr. (October 10, 1907 – May 17, 1999) was an American physician and suspect in the murder of Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia. He was never formally charged with the crime. He was also accused of raping his daughter, Tama ...

in the

Turner Network Television TNT (originally an abbreviation for Turner Network Television) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery that launched on October 3, 1988. TNT's original purpose ...

miniseries '' I Am the Night''. His television credits include '' Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'', ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in l ...

'', ''

Nurse Jackie ''Nurse Jackie'' is an American medical comedy-drama television series. It premiered on Showtime on June 8, 2009, and its seventh and final season premiered on April 12, 2015. The series finale aired on June 28, 2015. The show stars Edie Fal ...

'' and '' The Americans''.

Personal life

Mays is married to Australian actress

Susan Lyons Susan Lyons (born 1958, Sydney) is an Australian actress. Her television appearances include: ''A Country Practice'', ''Police Rescue'', ''Murder Call'', ''Farscape'', '' Something in the Air'' and '' All Saints''. Her film appearances inclu ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards

References

External links

* *
Jefferson Mays biography
iammyownwife.com; accessed July 11, 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mays, Jefferson 1965 births American male film actors American male stage actors Drama Desk Award winners Helpmann Award winners Living people Male actors from Connecticut Theatre World Award winners Tony Award winners University of California, San Diego alumni Yale College alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Place of birth missing (living people) Audiobook narrators