Jay James Johnston (born October 22, 1968) is an American actor and comedian. He was a writer and cast member on '' Mr. Show with Bob and David'' and had roles on ''

The Sarah Silverman Program ''The Sarah Silverman Program'' (stylized as ''The Sarah Silverman Program.'') is an American television sitcom, which ran from February 1, 2007, to April 15, 2010, on Comedy Central starring comedian and actress Sarah Silverman, who created the ...

'', ''

Moral Orel ''Moral Orel'' is an American adult stop-motion animated black comedy drama series created by Dino Stamatopoulos which originally aired on Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim from December 13, 2005, to December 18, 2008. Th ...

'', ''

Arrested Development ''Arrested Development'' is an American satire, satirical television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz. It follows the Bluths, a formerly wealthy, dysfunctional family and is presented in a Serial (radio and television), serialized format, inco ...

'', and ''

Bob's Burgers ''Bob's Burgers'' is an American animated sitcom created by Loren Bouchard for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is centered on the Belcher family—parents Bob Belcher, Bob and Linda Belcher, Linda and their three children, Tina Belcher, Tina, G ...

''. Johnston participated in the United States Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, and was arrested and charged on June 7, 2023. Following the incident, Johnston was fired from his longtime role as Jimmy Pesto on ''Bob's Burgers''; he has not appeared in any films or television shows since. He pleaded guilty on July 8, 2024, and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison on October 28, 2024, but was pardoned by

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

in January 2025.

Early life and education

Johnston was born and raised in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He has a younger brother named Tim. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in acting from

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1890, it has 6,493 students (as of fall 2021) pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It i ...

in 1993.

Career

After graduating from college, Johnston later joined the Chicago Second City's touring comedy for a number of years and also performed in stage shows at the Annoyance Theater in Chicago. From 1995 to 1998, Johnston worked as a sketch actor and writer on all four seasons of '' Mr. Show with Bob and David''. After the conclusion of ''Mr. Show'', Johnston had a recurring role on ''

'', as well as appearing in films such as '' Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'' and ''Bicentennial Man''. Johnston and fellow ''Mr. Show'' regulars

Dino Stamatopoulos Konstantinos Pollux Alexandros "Dino" Stamatopoulos (born December 14, 1964) is an American writer, producer, and actor. He has worked on TV programs such as '' Mr. Show'', '' TV Funhouse'', ''Mad TV'', '' The Dana Carvey Show'', ''Late Show wi ...

and

Scott Adsit Robert Scott Adsit (born November 26, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. Born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, Adsit joined the mainstage cast of Chicago's The Second City in 1994 after attending Columbia College Chicago. He app ...

were part of the creative team behind

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

's stop-motion animation series ''

'', which ran from 2005 to 2008. Johnston wrote and directed episodes of the series and voiced multiple characters in the first two seasons. Johnston starred on all three seasons of

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

's ''

'' as "Officer Jay McPherson", the love interest of

Sarah Silverman Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She first rose to prominence for her brief stint as a writer and cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' during its ...

's sister Laura in the series. The series reunited Johnston with ''Mr. Show'' cast members

Brian Posehn Brian Posehn (; born July 6, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor, musician, and writer. After numerous appearances as a television guest star, Posehn acquired his first major recurring role in HBO's '' Mr. Show with Bob a ...

Scott Aukerman Scott David Aukerman (born July 2, 1970 Note: see 10:20) is an American writer, actor, comedian, television personality, director, producer, and podcast host. He was a writer and performer in the later seasons of the sketch series '' Mr. Show'' f ...

, B. J. Porter, and Paul F. Tompkins. Johnston had a recurring voice role as Jimmy Pesto Sr. in the

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

animated series ''

'' from 2011 until his firing in 2021. The role was later recast to

Eric Bauza Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian voice actor based in the United States. He is mostly known for voicing several ''Looney Tunes'' characters, for which he won three Emmy Awards for his performances in '' Looney Tunes Cartoons'' (20 ...

in 2023. Standing well over 6 feet tall, Johnston regularly played police and other law enforcement roles.

United States Capitol attack

Jay Johnston Capitol-riot-actor-arrested

In March 2021, a

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

message by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

was seeking the identity of a man at the

January 6 United States Capitol attack On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of Donald Trump, President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * two months afte ...

who bore a resemblance to Johnston and who was identified as Johnston by friends of the actor. In a December 21, 2021, article by ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'', two of Johnston's friends said he admitted to being at the Capitol on January 6. After the FBI tweet and the news of his alleged participation, Johnston's friends and colleagues from ''Mr. Show with Bob and David'' reached out to Johnston, but received no response. Johnston was fired from ''Bob's Burgers'' shortly after being identified. The FBI arrested Johnston on June 7, 2023, and charged him with felony obstruction of officers during civil disorder as well as several misdemeanor offenses. He was released after paying a $25,000 bond. Johnston pleaded guilty to a single felony count of obstructing officers during a civil disorder on July 8, 2024. On October 28, 2024, Judge Carl Nichols characterized Johnston's conduct as "problematic" and "reprehensible", and sentenced him to one year and one day in prison, 40 hours of community service, and pay $2,000 in restitution. In January 2025, Johnston was among those pardoned by

when he entered office for his second term.

Personal life

Johnston has a daughter, born in 2011 or 2012. , he was engaged to Sara Radovanovitch.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Jay 1968 births 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male actors American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors American male television writers American male voice actors American television directors American television writers American sketch comedians Columbia College Chicago alumni Comedians from Chicago Living people Male actors from Chicago Convicted participants in the January 6 United States Capitol attack People pardoned by Donald Trump Television producers from Illinois Writers from Chicago