Jefferson Mays


Lewis Jefferson Mays is an American actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, two Drama Desk Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and three Obie Awards.

Life and career

Mays was raised in Clinton, Connecticut with his parents, a naval intelligence officer and a children's librarian, and his siblings. Mays graduated from Yale College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, and the University of California, San Diego, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts.
He has appeared at La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Playwrights Horizons.
Mays appeared on Broadway in I Am My Own Wife, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Doug Wright, from November 2003 to October 31, 2004. He had appeared in the play Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in May 2003, and at the La Jolla Playhouse in July 2001. Mays won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, the 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show, an Obie Award, and a 2004 Theatre World Award for his solo performance. He also won the 2007 Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Play 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, in The New York Times, 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 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 until closing on January 17, 2016. He won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He also was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical and tied for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. Mays played Terje Rød-Larsen in the Broadway play Oslo, for which he received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination. Mays is set to play Mayor George Shinn in the upcoming revival of The Music Man opening on Broadway in 2020.
Mays also narrates audiobooks, including The Expanse series.
Mays has appeared in several television programs as well; he notably appeared in several episodes of as cross-dressing murderer Carl Rudnick, and as Black Dahlia suspect George Hodel in the Turner Network Television miniseries I Am the Night. His television credits include Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie and The Americans.

Personal life

Mays is married to Australian actress Susan Lyons.

Credits

Film

Television

Theatre

YearTitleRoleVenueRef.
2003I Am My Own WifeCharlotte von MahlsdorfLyceum Theatre, Broadway
2007Journey's EndPrivate MasonBelasco Theatre, Broadway
2007PygmalionHenry HigginsAmerican Airlines Theatre, Broadway
2011Blood and GiftsSimon CraigMitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, Off- Broadway
2012The Best ManSheldon MarcusGerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway
2013A Gentleman's Guide to Love and MurderThe D'Ysquith FamilyWalter Kerr Theatre, Broadway
2016OsloTerje Rød-LarsenMitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, Off- Broadway
2016OsloTerje Rød-LarsenVivian Beaumont Theater, Broadway
2016The Front PageRoy V. BensingerBroadhurst Theatre, Broadway
2020The Music ManMayor George ShinnWinter Garden Theatre, Broadway

Awards