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).

KNOWN FOR

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2018
The Daily Show
2003
Family Guy
2013
The Kelly Clarkson Show
2024
Late Show with David Letterman
1996
Saturday Night Live
1991
The View
2003
The Graham Norton Show
2014
The Colbert Report
2005
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2012
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2005

FILMOGRAPHY

All
Movies
TV
Acting
149
Directing
2
Writing
2
Producing
2
Crew
1
2026
The Brink of War
as Ronald Reagan
2026
Shrinking
as Randy
2025
Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words
as Self
2025
The American Revolution
as Thomas Jefferson (voice)
2024
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
as Self
2024
A Man in Full
as Charlie Croker
2024
The Kelly Clarkson Show
as Self
2023
The Saint of Second Chances
as Narrator (voice)
2023
Bye Bye Barry
as Self
2023
The American Buffalo
as (voice)
2023
Shrinking
2021
9/11: Inside the President's War Room
as Self - Narrator (voice)
2021
Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age
as Self
2021
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
2021
American Rust
as Det. Del Harris
2021
Hemingway
as Ernest Hemingway (voice)
2021
CBS News Sunday Morning
as Self
2020
Adam
as Mickey
2020
Washington
as Self - Narrator
2020
The Comey Rule
as James Comey
2020
Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party
as Himself
2020
Impractical Jokers
as Self
2019
Guest Artist
as Joseph Harris
2019
The Morning Show
as Lukas
2018
The Catcher Was a Spy
as Bill Donovan
2018
The Emperor's Newest Clothes
as The Emperor (voice)
2018
The Russian Five
as self
2018
The Looming Tower
as John O'Neill
2018
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
as Self
2018
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
as Self
2018
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
as Self
2018
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
as Casting Reject
2017
Godless
as Frank Griffin
2017
Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge
as Narrator
2017
Off Camera with Sam Jones
as Self
2016
Allegiant
as David
2015
The Martian
as Theodore "Teddy" Sanders
2015
Steve Jobs
as John Sculley
2015
Of Miracles and Men
as Self - Narrator
2015
"That's Awesome!": The Story of 'Dumb and Dumber To'
as Self
2015
ARES: live
as Teddy Sanders
2014
Dumb and Dumber To
as Harry Dunne
2014
MTV Video Music Awards
as Self - Presenter
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
as Self
2014
Saturday Night Live
as Self - Cameo (uncredited)
2014
The Graham Norton Show
as Self
2013
James Gandolfini: Tribute to a Friend
as Self
2013
Family Guy
as Jeff Daniels (voice)
2012
Looper
as Abe
2012
The Newsroom
as Will McAvoy
2012
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
as Self
2010
Howl
as Professor David Kirk
2009
The Answer Man
as Arlen Faber
2009
State of Play
as George Fergus
2009
Paper Man
as Richard Dunn
2009
Away We Go
as Jerry Farlander
2008
Space Chimps
as Zartog (voice)
2008
A Plumm Summer
as Narrator
2008
Sweet Nothing in My Ear
as Dan Miller
2008
Traitor
as Carter
2007
The Lookout
as Lewis
2007
Mama's Boy
as Mert Rosenbloom
2006
RV
as Travis Gornicke
2006
Infamous
as Alvin Dewey
2006
Barry Sonnenfeld: The Kosher Cowboy
as Self
2006
RV Nation: The Culture of Road Warriors
as Self
2006
Robin Williams: A Family Affair
as Self
2006
Still Dumb After All These Years
as Self
2006
RV Nation: The Culture of Road Warriors
as Self
2006
Robin Williams: A Family Affair
as Self
2006
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
2006
Breakfast with the Arts
2006
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self - Guest
2005
Good Night, and Good Luck.
as Sig Mickelson
2005
The Squid and the Whale
as Bernard Berkman
2005
Because of Winn-Dixie
as Preacher
2005
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
as Self
2005
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
as Self
2005
The Colbert Report
as Self
2004
The Five People You Meet In Heaven
as Blue Man
2004
Imaginary Heroes
as Ben Travis
2004
The Goodbye Girl
as Elliot Garfield
2004
Remembering Ragtime
as P. C. O'Donnell (archive footage)
2004
Dumb and Dumber - Making Of
as Self
2003
I Witness
as James Rhodes
2003
Gods and Generals
as Lt. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
2003
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Farley
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2003
The View
as Self
2003
The Daily Show
as Self
2002
The Hours
as Louis Waters
2002
Blood Work
as Jasper 'Buddy' Noone
2002
Super Sucker
as Fred Barlow
2001
Chasing Sleep
as Ed Saxon
2001
Escanaba in da Moonlight
as Rueben Soady
2000
It's the Rage
as Warren
2000
The Crossing
as Gen. George Washington
2000
Cheaters
as Dr. Gerard Plecki
1999
My Favorite Martian
as Tim O'Hara
1998
Pleasantville
as Mr. Johnson
1998
Saturday Night Live: A Tribute to Chris Farley
as Self
1997
Trial and Error
as Charles Tuttle
1997
Walt Disney World's 25th Anniversary Party
as Self
1996
Fly Away Home
as Thomas Alden
1996
101 Dalmatians
as Roger
1996
2 Days in the Valley
as Alvin Strayer
1996
Late Show with David Letterman
as Self - Guest
1995
Redwood Curtain
as Lyman Fellers
1995
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
as Self - Guest
1995
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Lyman Fellers
1994
Speed
as Harry
1994
Dumb and Dumber
as Harry Dunne
1994
The Making of 'Speed'
as Self
1993
Gettysburg
as Col. Joshua Chamberlain
1993
Rain Without Thunder
as Jonathan Garson
1993
Frasier
as Doug (voice)
1992
Timescape
as Ben Wilson
1992
There Goes the Neighborhood
as Willis Embry
1992
Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story
as Tom Noonan
1992
HBO First Look
1991
The Butcher's Wife
as Dr. Alex Tremor
1991
America's Classic Ballparks
as Self - Narrator (voice)
1991
Saturday Night Live
as Self - Host
1990
Arachnophobia
as Ross Jennings
1990
Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael
as Denton Webb
1990
Love Hurts
as Paul Weaver
1989
No Place Like Home
as Mike Cooper
1988
Sweet Hearts Dance
as Sam Manners
1988
Checking Out
as Ray Macklin
1988
The House on Carroll Street
as Cochran
1988
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
as Lt. Steve Maryk
1987
Radio Days
as Biff Baxter
1987
Trying Times
as Jim
1986
Something Wild
as Charles Driggs
1986
Heartburn
as Richard
1985
The Purple Rose of Cairo
as Tom Baxter / Gil Shepherd
1985
Marie: A True Story
as Eddie Sisk
1983
Terms of Endearment
as Flap Horton
1983
An Invasion of Privacy
as Francis Ryan
1982
Fifth of July
as Jed Jenkins
1982
American Playhouse
as Jed Jenkins
1981
Ragtime
as P.C. O'Donnell
1980
Hawaii Five-O
as Neal Forrester
1980
A Rumor of War
as Chaplain
Broadway: The Next Generation
as Self
Gerald R. Ford: A Test of Character
as Narrator
Blind Logic: The Ralph R. Teetor Story
as Ralph Teetor (voice)
2034
Starman
as Ed Watkins
The Reception