Jon Simmons is an American film and television talent manager and acting coach operating out of Los Angeles. He is the co-founder of Simmons and Scott Entertainment.
Early life
Jon was born in
Bonne Terre, Missouri
Bonne Terre ( ) is a city in St. Francois County, Missouri, United States with a population of 6,864 at the 2010 census. Situated in the Southeast Missouri Lead District, lead mining shaped the history and character of the area from the earliest ...
to William C. and Marcille Nina (Cartmill) Simmons, and he grew up in St. Charles, Missouri. He graduated from St. Charles High School and later attended Hannibal LaGrange College in Hannibal Missouri, and finished his undergraduate at Carson Newman College in Jefferson City Tennessee with a BA in Psychology and Religion.
Eventually landing in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
, Jon started his entertainment career with the Kim Dawson agency where he modeled and acted in commercials. From this beginning he decided to try to make a break in Hollywood.
Career
Simmons began as an actor in soaps, having a recurring day player role on
General Hospital as well as roles on
The Bold and the Beautiful
''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...
and
Santa Barbara. He later appeared on
Alias,
Sports Night,
7th Heaven,
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
''Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman'' is an American Western drama television series created and executive produced by Beth Sullivan and starring Jane Seymour, who plays Dr. Michaela Quinn, a physician who leaves Boston in search of adventure in the O ...
, and as young Alfred Pennyworth in
Batman and Robin. After being an actor for several years Jon decided to change direction. He turned to talent management and founded Simmons and Scott Entertainment in 1999 with Carl Scott, formerly of Warner Bros. Records. Their first client was
Chad Michael Murray
Chad Michael Murray (born August 24, 1981) is an American actor and writer. He is best known for playing Lucas Scott in The WB/ CW drama series '' One Tree Hill'' (2003–09, 2012), a recurring role as Tristin DuGray on The WB/ CW series ''Gilm ...
.
Jon was also instrumental in beginning the careers of
Garrett Hedlund
Garrett John Hedlund (born September 3, 1984) is an American actor. His films include ''Troy'' (2004), '' Friday Night Lights'' (2004), '' Four Brothers'' (2005), ''Eragon'' (2006), ''Death Sentence'' (2007), '' Tron: Legacy'' (2010), ''Country ...
,
Chris Zylka
Chris Zylka (born Christopher Michael Settlemire; born May 9, 1985) is an American actor and model, known for his roles in the films ''Shark Night'' (2011), ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' (2012), Doyce Plunk in the TV series '' Zeke and Luther'' (2009 ...
,
, Brandon Buddy
Drew Roy
Andrew "Drew" Roy (born May 16, 1986) is an American actor. Roy was born and raised in Clanton, Alabama. but moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. He is best known for his role in '' Falling Skies''.
Career
Roy started his acting ca ...
,
Max Greenfield
Max Greenfield (born September 4, 1979) is an American actor. He appeared in recurring roles in ''Veronica Mars'' and ''Ugly Betty''. He co-starred as Schmidt in the Fox sitcom ''New Girl'', for which he received nominations at the Primetime Em ...
,
Jesse Plemons,
Nate Parker
Nate Parker (born November 18, 1979) is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He has appeared in '' Beyond the Lights'', '' Red Tails'', '' The Secret Life of Bees'', '' The Great Debaters'', ''Arbitrage'', ''Non-Stop'', ' ...
,
Luke Kleintank
Luke Kleintank (born May 18, 1990) is an American actor. He is known for playing Finn Abernathy on ''Bones'', Tyler Harne in the 2015 film ''Max'', and Joe Blake in the Amazon series ''The Man in the High Castle''. He is the youngest of six child ...
,
Kat Graham
Katerina Alexandre Hartford Graham (born September 5, 1989) is an American actress, singer and dancer (now distributing music under the stage name Toro Gato). She is widely known for her role as Bonnie Bennett on The CW supernatural drama ser ...
,
Colton Haynes
Colton Lee Haynes (born July 13, 1988) is an American actor and model. He is known for his starring role as Jackson Whittemore in the MTV supernatural drama series ''Teen Wolf'' and as Roy Harper / Arsenal in the CW superhero television seri ...
,
J. D. Pardo
Jorge Daniel Pardo (born September 7, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Jack Toretto in '' F9'' (2021), as well as the lead role of Ezekiel "EZ" Reyes in the television series '' Mayans M.C.'' (2018–present).
Early life ...
,
Nicole Gale Anderson
Nicole Gale Anderson (born August 29, 1990) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Heather Chandler on The CW series ''Beauty & the Beast''. She is also known for her roles as Macy Misa in the Disney Channel series ''Jonas'' ...
,
Casey Deidrick
Casey Jon Deidrick ( ; born April 25, 1987) is an American actor and singer. Deidrick is best known for originating the role of Chad DiMera on the NBC soap opera '' Days of Our Lives''.
Personal life
Deidrick was born in Santa Clara, California ...
and
Ryan Carnes
Ryan Gregg Carnes
at TV.com
.
Simmons is known for coaching and teaching each of his actors, personally fine tuning their skills. Many of his clients, both former and current, attribute their success to his guidance. Plemons says that "If I have any talent, it's because of him. He's an amazing acting coach ... I studied with him for nine years.".
Zylka has stated that Jon "became not only a father figure, but a mentor and my voice of reason. If anyone has a Jiminy Cricket, it's me. For sure!".
Filmography
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Jon
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American talent agents
American acting coaches
People from Bonne Terre, Missouri