Actor
· Acting
Jeff Daniels
Born 1955-02-19
📍 Athens, Georgia, USA
Jeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels (born February 19, 1955) is an American actor. 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).
Filmography 135
The Brink of War
as Ronald Reagan
2026
The American Revolution
as Thomas Jefferson (voice)
2025
Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words
as Self
2025
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
as Self
2024
A Man in Full
as Charlie Croker
2024
Bye Bye Barry
as Self
2023
The American Buffalo
as (voice)
2023
The Saint of Second Chances
as Narrator (voice)
2023
Shrinking
2023
Shrinking
as Randy
2023
American Rust
as Det. Del Harris
2021
9/11: Inside the President's War Room
as Self - Narrator (voice)
2021
Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age
as Self
2021
Hemingway
as Ernest Hemingway (voice)
2021
The Comey Rule
as James Comey
2020
Adam
as Mickey
2020
Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party
as Himself
2020
Washington
as Self - Narrator
2020
The Kelly Clarkson Show
as Self
2019
Guest Artist
as Joseph Harris
2019
The Emperor's Newest Clothes
as The Emperor
2018
The Catcher Was a Spy
as Bill Donovan
2018
The Russian Five
as self
2018
The Looming Tower
as John O'Neill
2018
Godless
as Frank Griffin
2017
Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge
as Narrator
2017
Allegiant
as David
2016
Steve Jobs
as John Sculley
2015
The Martian
as Theodore "Teddy" Sanders
2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
as Self
2015
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
as Self
2015
ARES: live
as Teddy Sanders
2015
"That's Awesome!": The Story of 'Dumb and Dumber To'
as Self
2015
Of Miracles and Men
as Self - Narrator
2015
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
as Self
2014
Dumb and Dumber To
as Harry Dunne
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
as Self
2014
Off Camera with Sam Jones
as Self
2014
James Gandolfini: Tribute to a Friend
as Self
2013
Looper
as Abe
2012
The Newsroom
as Will McAvoy
2012
Impractical Jokers
as Self
2011
Howl
as Professor David Kirk
2010
Paper Man
as Richard Dunn
2009
Away We Go
as Jerry Farlander
2009
State of Play
as George Fergus
2009
The Answer Man
as Arlen Faber
2009
Traitor
as Carter
2008
Space Chimps
as Zartog (voice)
2008
A Plumm Summer
as Narrator
2008
Sweet Nothing in My Ear
as Dan Miller
2008
Mama's Boy
as Mert Rosenbloom
2007
The Lookout
as Lewis
2007
The Graham Norton Show
as Self
2007
Infamous
as Alvin Dewey
2006
Barry Sonnenfeld: The Kosher Cowboy
as Self
2006
Robin Williams: A Family Affair
as Self
2006
RV
as Travis Gornicke
2006
Still Dumb After All These Years
as Self
2006
The Colbert Report
as Self
2005
The Squid and the Whale
as Bernard Berkman
2005
Good Night, and Good Luck.
as Sig Mickelson
2005
Because of Winn-Dixie
as Preacher
2005
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
as Self
2005
The Five People You Meet In Heaven
as Blue Man
2004
Remembering Ragtime
as P. C. O'Donnell (archive footage)
2004
Imaginary Heroes
as Ben Travis
2004
The Goodbye Girl
as Elliot Garfield
2004
Dumb and Dumber - Making Of
as Self
2004
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Farley
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2003
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
as Self
2003
I Witness
as James Rhodes
2003
Gods and Generals
as Lt. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
2003
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self
2003
The Hours
as Louis Waters
2002
Blood Work
as Jasper 'Buddy' Noone
2002
Super Sucker
as Fred Barlow
2002
Chasing Sleep
as Ed Saxon
2001
Escanaba in da Moonlight
as Rueben Soady
2001
Cheaters
as Dr. Gerard Plecki
2000
The Crossing
as Gen. George Washington
2000
All the Rage
as Warren Harding
1999
My Favorite Martian
as Tim O'Hara
1999
Family Guy
as Jeff Daniels (voice)
1999
Pleasantville
as Mr. Johnson
1998
Saturday Night Live: A Tribute to Chris Farley
as Self
1998
The View
as Self
1997
Trial and Error
as Charles Tuttle
1997
Walt Disney World's 25th Anniversary Party
as Self
1997
101 Dalmatians
as Roger
1996
Fly Away Home
as Thomas Alden
1996
2 Days in the Valley
as Alvin Strayer
1996
The Daily Show
as Self
1996
Redwood Curtain
as Lyman Fellers
1995
Dumb and Dumber
as Harry Dunne
1994
Speed
as Harry
1994
Gettysburg
as Col. Joshua Chamberlain
1993
Frasier
as Doug (voice)
1993
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
as Self - Guest
1993
Late Show with David Letterman
as Self - Guest
1993
Rain Without Thunder
as Jonathan Garson
1993
There Goes the Neighborhood
as Willis Embry
1992
Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story
as Tom Noonan
1992
HBO First Look
1992
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
Timescape
as Ben Wilson
1992
America's Classic Ballparks
as Narrator
1991
The Butcher's Wife
as Dr. Alex Tremor
1991
Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael
as Denton Webb
1990
Arachnophobia
as Ross Jennings
1990
Love Hurts
as Paul Weaver
1990
No Place Like Home
as Mike Cooper
1989
Checking Out
as Ray Macklin
1988
Sweet Hearts Dance
as Sam Manners
1988
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
as Lt. Steve Maryk
1988
The House on Carroll Street
as Cochran
1988
Radio Days
as Biff Baxter
1987
Something Wild
as Charles Driggs
1986
Heartburn
as Richard
1986
Marie: A True Story
as Eddie Sisk
1985
The Purple Rose of Cairo
as Tom Baxter / Gil Shepherd
1985
MTV Video Music Awards
as Self - Presenter
1984
Terms of Endearment
as Flap Horton
1983
An Invasion of Privacy
as Francis Ryan
1983
Fifth of July
as Jed Jenkins
1982
Ragtime
as P.C. O'Donnell
1981
A Rumor of War
as Chaplain
1980
CBS News Sunday Morning
as Self
1979
Saturday Night Live
as Self - Host
1975
Saturday Night Live
as Self - Cameo (uncredited)
1975
Hawaii Five-O
as Neal Forrester
1968
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Lyman Fellers
1951
Broadway: The Next Generation
as Self
Blind Logic: The Ralph R. Teetor Story
as Ralph Teetor (voice)