| Jeff Daniels | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jeffrey Warren Daniels February 19, 1955 Athens, Georgia, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, musician, playwright |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Spouse | Kathleen Treado (1979-present) |
| Website | |
| http://www.jeffdaniels.com/ | |
Jeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels (born February 19, 1955) is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan. He has performed in a number of stage productions, both on and off Broadway. He has been nominated for the Tony Award as Best Actor for the Broadway play God of Carnage (2009), along with his other three cast-mates. He has had a thriving film career, from his debut in 1981 in Ragtime, through State of Play in 2009. For his film work, he has received three Golden Globe Award nominations, including as Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical for Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) (hence the name of his theatre company). He has also received nominations by the Screen Actors Guild, Satellite Awards, and several for his work in The Squid and the Whale (London Critics Circle Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, Chlotrudis Awards and Gotham Awards).
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Daniels was born in Athens, Georgia, and grew up in Chelsea, Michigan, where his father, Robert Lee Daniels, still owns the local lumber yard. He was raised Methodist.[1] Daniels attended Central Michigan University and participated in their theater program. In the Summer of 1976, he attended the Eastern Michigan University (EMU) drama school to participate in a special Bi-Centenniel Repertory programme where he performed in Hot L Baltimore and three other plays performed in repertoire. Marshall Mason was the guest director at EMU and he invited Jeff to come to New York to work at the Circle Repertory Theatre where he performed in The Fifth of July by Lanford Wilson in the 1977-1978 season. He also performed in New York in The Shortchanged Review (1979) at Second Stage Theatre.[2] It was the first show of the inaugural season for Second Stage Theatre.
Daniels has starred in a number of New York productions, on and off Broadway. On Broadway, he has appeared in Lanford Wilson's Redwood Curtain, A. R. Gurney's The Golden Age and Wilson's Fifth of July, for which he won a Drama Desk Award for Best Supporting Actor. Off-Broadway, he received a Drama Desk nomination for Wilson's Lemon Sky, and an Obie Award for his performance in the Circle Repertory Company production of Johnny Got His Gun. He returned to the stage in 2009, appearing in Broadway's God of Carnage with Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis and James Gandolfini.[3]
In 1991, he founded the regionally-acclaimed[4] Purple Rose Theatre Company, a non-profit stage company in his childhood and current home of Chelsea, Michigan. He is currently Executive Director of PRTC, and has written 11 plays for them.
Although primarily a dramatic actor, Daniels has also been cast in other genres such as the 2002 suspense thriller Blood Work and in the 1994 comedy Dumb and Dumber as Harry Dunne, Lloyd Christmas' best friend. Daniels portrayed Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in Gettysburg, as well as the prequel Gods and Generals.
Most notably, Daniels is also known for his roles in films such as Pleasantville, Speed, Terms of Endearment, My Favorite Martian, Gettysburg, Arachnophobia, Because of Winn-Dixie, 101 Dalmatians and The Squid and the Whale. More recently, he appeared in the movie RV with Robin Williams, as well as State of Play.
He has focused on recording a number of songs that he has written throughout his life, apparently marking key moments. He has kept busy with frequent gigs and two full length albums, Grandfather's Hat and Jeff Daniels Live and Unplugged.
Daniels has been married to his high school sweetheart, Kathleen Rosemary Treado, since 1979. They married on Friday the 13th because he wore the number 13 on his baseball uniform.
Around 1983,[5] Daniels found his gathering sense of mastering the acting craft consolidated when Woody Allen complimented his performance in The Purple Rose of Cairo -- he believed his career success was ensured.
In 1986, Daniels moved his home to Chelsea, Michigan, where the couple had grown up. They have three children: Benjamin (born 1984), Lucas (born 1987), and Nellie (born 1990).
He has appeared as the TV spokesperson for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation promoting Michigan's effectiveness in bringing in new companies, featured on CNBC.
He has written, directed, and starred in two films by Purple Rose Films, each set in Michigan: Escanaba in da Moonlight and Super Sucker. He was inducted into the Michigan Walk of Fame on May 25, 2006 in Lansing, Michigan. He delivered the winter commencement address at the University of Michigan on December 20, 2009, and was granted an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts.[6]
| Year | Film | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Ragtime | P. C. O'Donnell | ||
| 1983 | Terms of Endearment | Flap Horton | ||
| 1985 | The Purple Rose of Cairo | Tom Baxter/Gil Shepherd | Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | |
| 1985 | Marie | Eddie Sisk | ||
| 1986 | Heartburn | Richard | ||
| 1986 | Something Wild | Charles Driggs | Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | |
| 1987 | Radio Days | Biff Baxter | ||
| 1988 | The House on Carroll Street | Cochran | ||
| 1988 | Sweet Hearts Dance | Sam Manners | ||
| 1989 | Checking Out | Ray Macklin | ||
| 1989 | No Place Like Home | Mike | TV movie | |
| 1990 | Arachnophobia | Ross Jennings | Saturn Award for Best Actor | |
| 1990 | Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael | Denton Webb | ||
| 1991 | Love Hurts | Paul Weaver | ||
| 1991 | The Butcher's Wife | Dr. Alex Tremor | ||
| 1992 | Grand Tour: Disaster in Time | Ben Wilson | International Fantasy Film Award for Best Actor | |
| 1992 | There Goes the Neighborhood | Willis Embry | ||
| 1992 | Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story | Tom Noonan | made for TV | |
| 1993 | Rain Without Thunder | Jonathan Garson | ||
| 1993 | Gettysburg | Colonel Joshua Chamberlain | Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor | |
| 1994 | Speed | Harry Temple | ||
| 1994 | Dumb and Dumber | Harry Dunne | ||
| 1996 | Fly Away Home | Thomas Alden | Nominated – Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor | |
| 1996 | 2 Days in the Valley | Alvin Strayer | ||
| 1996 | 101 Dalmatians | Roger Dearly | ||
| 1997 | Trial and Error | Charlie Tuttle | ||
| 1998 | Pleasantville | Bill Johnson | ||
| 1999 | My Favorite Martian | Tim O'Hara | ||
| 1999 | All the Rage | Warren Harding | retitled It's the Rage for US cable TV | |
| 2000 | The Crossing | George Washington | made for TV | |
| 2000 | Chasing Sleep | Ed Saxon | ||
| 2000 | Cheaters | Dr. Gerard Plecki | HBO film | |
| 2001 | Escanaba in da Moonlight | Reuben Soady | ||
| 2002 | Super Sucker | Fred Barlow | ||
| 2002 | Blood Work | Jasper "Buddy" Noone | ||
| 2002 | The Hours | Louis Waters | ||
| 2003 | Gods and Generals | Lt. Colonel Joshua Chamberlain | ||
| 2003 | I Witness | James Rhodes | ||
| 2004 | The Goodbye Girl | Elliot Garfield | made for TV | |
| 2004 | Imaginary Heroes | Ben Travis | ||
| 2004 | The Five People You Meet In Heaven | The Blue Man | ||
| 2005 | The Squid and the Whale | Bernard Berkman | Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead Nominated – ALFS Award for Actor of the Year |
|
| 2005 | Because of Winn-Dixie | The Preacher | ||
| 2005 | Good Night, and Good Luck. | Sig Mickelson | ||
| 2006 | RV | Travis Gornicke | ||
| 2006 | Infamous | Alvin Dewey | ||
| 2007 | The Lookout | Lewis | ||
| 2007 | Mama's Boy | Mert Rosenbloom | ||
| 2007 | A Plumm Summer | narrator | ||
| 2008 | Sweet Nothing in My Ear | Dan Miller | made for TV | |
| 2008 | Space Chimps | Zartog | voice only | |
| 2008 | Traitor | Carter | ||
| 2009 | State of Play | Representative George Fergus | ||
| 2009 | The Answer Man | Arlen Faber | ||
| 2009 | Away We Go | Jerry Farlander | ||
| 2009 | Paper Man | Richard Dunn | ||
| 2010 | Howl | Professor David Kirk |