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Biography
Jeff Daniels first registered with the public with his performances as a mostly self-involved semi-intellectual who cheats on his cancer-stricken wife in "Terms of Endearment" (1983). Two years later, he solidified his status as the smug actor in the film-within-the-film who steps off the screen to woo Mia Farrow in Woody Allen's "The Purple Rose of Cairo" (1985). But Daniels' defining role, and one of his finest performances to date, came as the feckless hero caught up in the kinky and dangerous world of a free-spirited woman in Jonathan Demme's offbeat comedy-thriller, "Something Wild" (1986).
Born in Georgia but raised in Michigan, Daniels attended college with the intention of becoming a teacher, although he minored in theater. Cast by guest director Marshall W Mason in a production of "Summer and Smoke" in his junior year, he dropped out of college and moved to NYC to work with Mason at the Circle Repertory Company. Beginning as an apprentice, Daniels eventually made his stage debut with the company in 1976. Playwright Lanford Wilson expressly wrote the role of Jed, the homosexual lover of a paraplegic, in "Fifth of July" for Daniels, who appeared in both the 1978 Off-Broadway version and the 1980 Broadway production. Other Broadway credits included "The Golden Age" (1984), A R Gurney's modern-day version of Henry James' "The Aspern Papers", and Lanford Wilson's "Redwood Curtain" (1993), a role he reprised in the 1995 CBS TV adaptation.
Daniels entered films in the small role of the policeman who breaks up a fight between Coalhouse Walker and the fire chief in "Ragtime" (1981). He was wasted as Meryl Streep's editor and friend in "Heartburn" (1986), but fared better as a radio action hero in Woody Allen's "Radio Days" (1987). Daniels has also played leading roles in the little-seen "The House on Carroll Street" (1988), as the stalwart All-American FBI agent who nevertheless helps the "red-tainted" Kelly McGillis ferret out why U.S. officials are hiding a group of German immigrants in Brooklyn, "Checking Out" (1988), as a raging hypochondriac, and "The Butcher's Wife" (1991), opposite Demi Moore. Daniels managed to hold his own alongside several hundred spiders and the scene-stealing John Goodman in the creepy "Arachnophobia" (1990), and he won much-deserved acclaim for his fine performance as Joshua Chamberlain, in the otherwise middling "Gettysburg" (1993). He ventured back to lighter fare and better box office in supporting roles as Keanu Reeves' partner in "Speed" and displayed a rarely-seen goofy side in the smash holiday-hit "Dumb and Dumber" (both 1994).
In the late 80s, Daniels retreated to his hometown of Chelsea, Michigan, where he founded the Purple Rose Theater Company. Since its inception, the company has produced several of Daniels' own plays, including "Shoe Man," "The Vast Difference" and "The Kingdom's Coming." Daniels made his feature directorial debut with the comedy "Escanaba in da Moonlight" (2001), adapted from his stage play about a hunting trip gone slightly awry. Daniel's "Super Sucker," a comedy about rival vacuum cleaner salesmen, won a slot at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen and walked away with the fest's Audience Award for Best Feature.
In Hollywood, Daniels continued to walk the hit-and-miss path of the actor who can play both leading and character roles; alternately appearing in bombs like the film remake of the 1960s sit-com "My Favorite Martian" (1999) and in moving roles in popular films such as "Pleasantville" (1998). In between big-screen projects, Daniels also turned in exemplary work in several television efforts, including playing George Washington in the A
Born in Georgia but raised in Michigan, Daniels attended college with the intention of becoming a teacher, although he minored in theater. Cast by guest director Marshall W Mason in a production of "Summer and Smoke" in his junior year, he dropped out of college and moved to NYC to work with Mason at the Circle Repertory Company. Beginning as an apprentice, Daniels eventually made his stage debut with the company in 1976. Playwright Lanford Wilson expressly wrote the role of Jed, the homosexual lover of a paraplegic, in "Fifth of July" for Daniels, who appeared in both the 1978 Off-Broadway version and the 1980 Broadway production. Other Broadway credits included "The Golden Age" (1984), A R Gurney's modern-day version of Henry James' "The Aspern Papers", and Lanford Wilson's "Redwood Curtain" (1993), a role he reprised in the 1995 CBS TV adaptation.
Daniels entered films in the small role of the policeman who breaks up a fight between Coalhouse Walker and the fire chief in "Ragtime" (1981). He was wasted as Meryl Streep's editor and friend in "Heartburn" (1986), but fared better as a radio action hero in Woody Allen's "Radio Days" (1987). Daniels has also played leading roles in the little-seen "The House on Carroll Street" (1988), as the stalwart All-American FBI agent who nevertheless helps the "red-tainted" Kelly McGillis ferret out why U.S. officials are hiding a group of German immigrants in Brooklyn, "Checking Out" (1988), as a raging hypochondriac, and "The Butcher's Wife" (1991), opposite Demi Moore. Daniels managed to hold his own alongside several hundred spiders and the scene-stealing John Goodman in the creepy "Arachnophobia" (1990), and he won much-deserved acclaim for his fine performance as Joshua Chamberlain, in the otherwise middling "Gettysburg" (1993). He ventured back to lighter fare and better box office in supporting roles as Keanu Reeves' partner in "Speed" and displayed a rarely-seen goofy side in the smash holiday-hit "Dumb and Dumber" (both 1994).
In the late 80s, Daniels retreated to his hometown of Chelsea, Michigan, where he founded the Purple Rose Theater Company. Since its inception, the company has produced several of Daniels' own plays, including "Shoe Man," "The Vast Difference" and "The Kingdom's Coming." Daniels made his feature directorial debut with the comedy "Escanaba in da Moonlight" (2001), adapted from his stage play about a hunting trip gone slightly awry. Daniel's "Super Sucker," a comedy about rival vacuum cleaner salesmen, won a slot at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen and walked away with the fest's Audience Award for Best Feature.
In Hollywood, Daniels continued to walk the hit-and-miss path of the actor who can play both leading and character roles; alternately appearing in bombs like the film remake of the 1960s sit-com "My Favorite Martian" (1999) and in moving roles in popular films such as "Pleasantville" (1998). In between big-screen projects, Daniels also turned in exemplary work in several television efforts, including playing George Washington in the A
