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Jefferson Mays
Born	Lewis Jefferson Mays (1965-06-08) June 8, 1965 (age 59) New London, Connecticut, U.S.[1]
Education	Yale University (BA) University of California, San Diego (MFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1988–present
Spouse	Susan Lyons ​ (m. 2003)​

Lewis Jefferson Mays (born June 8, 1965) 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.

Mays was raised in Clinton, Connecticut, with his parents, a naval intelligence officer and a children's librarian, and his siblings.^[2] 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 from the graduate acting program.^[3][2] He appeared at La Jolla Playhouse,^[4] Long Wharf Theatre,^[5] the Williamstown Theatre Festival,^[6] and Playwrights Horizons.^[7]

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.^[8] He had appeared in the play Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in May 2003,^[7] and at the La Jolla Playhouse in July 2001.^[4] 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.^[8] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Mays starred in two Broadway revivals in 2007. He appeared as Henry Higgins in Pygmalion,^[9] in which he won critical praise. The TheaterMania reviewer called him "pitch-perfect", and the production an "excellent revival".^[10] He appeared in a revival of Journey's End in February to June 2007, in which he starred as Private Mason.^[11] Ben Brantley, in The New York Times, called the production "acutely staged and acted."^[12] The TheaterMania reviewer wrote: "Mays is a reliable, obliging Mason."^[13]

In August 2009, Mays appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Quartermaine's Terms by Simon Grey.^[6][14]

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 (previews) until closing on January 17, 2016.^[15][16][17] He won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.^[18] He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical^[19] and tied for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical (with Neil Patrick Harris).^[17][20] 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 played Mayor George Shinn in the 2022 Broadway revival of The Music Man.^[21]

Mays also narrates audiobooks, including The Expanse series,^[22][23][24] The Invention of Sound by Chuck Palahniuk^[25][26] and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said.^[27] His narration was recognized by an Audie Award and a number of Earphones Awards.^[28][29]

Mays has appeared in several television programs as well; he notably appeared in several episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 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.^{[citation needed]}

Mays is married to Australian actress Susan Lyons.^[3]

• Jefferson Mays at IMDb
• Jefferson Mays at the Internet Broadway Database
• Jefferson Mays at LibraryThing
• Jefferson Mays biography, iammyownwife.com; accessed July 11, 2015. Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine