Jefferson Mays (born Lewis Jefferson Mays; June 8, 1965) is an American film, stage and television actor.
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.
Mays appeared on Broadway in I Am My Own Wife, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Doug Wright, from November 2003 (previews) 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.
In 2007, he appeared as Henry Higgins in a revival of Pygmalion and starred as Private Mason in a revival of Journey’s End. 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 eight roles. 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 (with Neil Patrick Harris).
1999 • TV
1990 • TV
2013 • TV
2005 • TV
2025 • Movie
2018 • Movie
as Mr. Cassidy
as Gilbert Longabaugh (segment "The Gal Who Got Rattled")
as Dr. Threeply
as Community (voice)
as Garne Strickland
as Hollywood Mogul
as Stidmann
as Dr. Miranda Kulp
as Doctor
as Little John
as Bill Nathanson
as Voice over (voice)
as Preacher Teacher
as William Maxwell
as Martin Bradley
as The Curator
as Narrator (voice)
Writer
as Carl Rudnick
7 episodes
as Mr. Olson
1 episodes
as Norman Devane
1 episodes
as Dr. Easton
1 episodes
as Diplomat Van Buskirk
1 episodes
as Nicholas Boone
1 episodes
as Keifer Gates
1 episodes
as Liam Dempsey, Sr.
1 episodes
as Walter Taffet
4 episodes
as T.L. Gurley
1 episodes
as Daddy (voice)
1 episodes
as Daddy
1 episodes
as Virgil Sheets
5 episodes
as Albert Duhamel
8 episodes
as George Hodel
6 episodes
as James Madison
6 episodes
as Elkanah Watson
3 episodes
