Jefferson Mays

Lewis Jefferson Mays, born June 8, 1965, in Clinton, Connecticut, is an American actor and book writer whose Broadway career spans from 2003 to 2022. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Yale College and a Master of Fine Arts in acting from the University of California, San Diego. Before reaching Broadway, Mays built his stage experience at regional theaters including La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Playwrights Horizons.

Mays made his Broadway debut in I Am My Own Wife, a solo performance piece and Pulitzer Prize-winning play written by Doug Wright. The production ran from November 2003 through October 31, 2004, having previously been staged Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in May 2003 and at La Jolla Playhouse in July 2001. The role earned Mays the 2004 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, the 2004 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, an Obie Award, and a Theatre World Award. He subsequently performed the production in Australia in 2006, for which he received the 2007 Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Play.

In 2007, Mays appeared in two Broadway revivals. He took on the role of Henry Higgins in Pygmalion and played Private Mason in a revival of Journey's End, which ran from February to June of that year. That same year, he appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in August 2009 in Quartermaine's Terms by Simon Gray.

Mays originated multiple roles in the 2013 Broadway musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, playing nine distinct characters. The production ran from its October 2013 preview performances through its closing on January 17, 2016. For this work, he tied for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical with Neil Patrick Harris, won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. He subsequently appeared in the Broadway play Oslo, portraying Terje Rød-Larsen, a role that earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play. In 2022, Mays appeared in the Broadway revival of The Music Man, playing Mayor George Shinn.

Beyond the stage, Mays has narrated audiobooks including The Expanse series, The Invention of Sound by Chuck Palahniuk, and Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, receiving an Audie Award and multiple Earphones Awards for his narration work. His television credits include recurring appearances on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Carl Rudnick, a role in the Turner Network Television miniseries I Am the Night as George Hodel, and appearances on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, and The Americans. Among his many accolades are a Tony Award, two Drama Desk Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, three Obie Awards, a Helen Hayes Award, and a Lucille Lortel Award. Mays is married to Australian actress Susan Lyons.