Daniel Jason Sudeikis was born on September 18, 1975, in Fairfax, Virginia,[1] to Kathryn Sudeikis (née Wendt), a travel agent at Brennco and president of the American Society of Travel Agents, and Daniel Joseph Sudeikis, a vice president of business development, both originally from Illinois.[2][3] Jason has two sisters, Kristin and Lindsay.[4] His father is of Irish and Lithuanian descent, while his mother has German and Irish ancestry.[5][6][7] Jason's maternal uncle is actor George Wendt, known for his role as Norm Peterson on Cheers, and Jason's matrilineal great-grandfather was photographer Tom Howard.[8][9][10]
Sudeikis was born with anosmia, leaving him with no sense of smell.[11][12]
In the 1990s, Sudeikis began his career in improv comedy. He began performing at ComedySportz (now called Comedy City) in Kansas City, Missouri. He moved to Chicago, where he studied at the Annoyance Theatre in the North Side of Chicago and IO Theater (formerly known as ImprovOlympic) in the Near North Side and was one of the founding members of the long form team, J.T.S. Brown. He performed with Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
In 2003, while a regular performer at The Second City Las Vegas, Sudeikis was hired as a sketch writer for Saturday Night Live (SNL) after being recommended by his uncle George Wendt to Marci Klein.[18][19] In May 2005, he became a featured player on the show, and was upgraded to repertory status at the beginning of the show's 32nd season on September 30, 2006.[18] In July 2013, Sudeikis announced that he was leaving SNL.[20] In 2015, 2016, and 2019 he made occasional appearances on the show. On October 23, 2021, Sudeikis made his hosting debut with musical guest Brandi Carlile.
Gil, a news anchor who treats his field correspondent Michelle Dison's (Kristen Wiig) misfortunes as amusement
One of the guys from the "Song Memories" sketches who is the first to tell strange stories about where he was when he first heard a song
Ed Mahoney, a brash man who often makes a fool of himself in public
Officer Sikorsky, a police officer who brings in convict Lorenzo McIntosh (Kenan Thompson) in an attempt to "scare straight" the three delinquent teens (Bill Hader, Bobby Moynihan, Andy Samberg, and occasionally the week's guest host) that he often arrests
Vance on "What Up with That?", an overzealous background dancer often dressed in an Adidas tracksuit with a 1980s perm
Pete Twinkle, ESPN Classic host of obscure women's sports with dim-witted Greg Stink (Will Forte) as his co-host
Jeff, a disgruntled film and theatre technician who starts unprovoked arguments with the star of the piece
The Devil, who often comes on Weekend Update to point out religious and moral hypocrisy on Earth
Jack Rizzoli, an anchor at WXPD News who always tells veteran reporter Herb Welch (Bill Hader) to do his job
Tommy, a strip club M.C. for Bongo's Clown Room
Sensei Mark Hoffman, the faculty adviser and Japanese Studies teacher to Jonathan Cavanaugh-san and Rebecca Stern-Markowitz-san (Taran Killam and Vanessa Bayer, respectively), hosts of "J-Pop America Fun Time Now"
Marshall T. Boudreaux, host of the courtroom reality show Maine Justice
Film, television and other work
Early work
Sudeikis had a recurring role on the series 30 Rock (2007–2010), appearing in a total of 12 episodes. He played Floyd DeBarber, a love interest of Tina Fey's character Liz Lemon. Sudeikis last appeared in four episodes towards the end of the show's fourth season in 2010.
Sudeikis was a voice actor on the animated-comedy series The Cleveland Show (2009–2013). He provided the voices for Holt Richter, Cleveland's wannabe hipster neighbor, and Terry Kimple, Cleveland's hard-partying high school buddy, who now works with Cleveland at the cable company. After being credited as a recurring guest in season one, Sudeikis was bumped up to a series regular beginning in season two.
From November to December 2016, Sudeikis played the lead role of John Keating in the Classic Stage CompanyOff-Broadway production of Dead Poets Society.[31] In 2017, he executive produced the comedy series Detroiters, and appeared in two episodes.
Sudeikis starred in Kodachrome (2017), alongside Ed Harris and Elizabeth Olsen. He made appearances as Glenn in Permission (2017) and as Dave Johnson in Downsizing (2017). He starred as a side-role/reference in the Derren Brown shows Derren Brown: Secret and Derren Brown Underground, where he performed on a screen during the credits, and his name was used as a reference during the show in 2017 and 2018.
Sudeikis had portrayed Ted Lasso, a hapless American football coach brought to England to coach AFC Richmond as part of two promotional videos for NBC Sports in 2013 and 2014.[34] In late 2019, Sudeikis co-wrote and starred in Ted Lasso about an American football coach who is hired to coach a fictional English football club, AFC Richmond. The series was released in August 2020 on Apple TV+ to a positive reception with the series finale in May 2023, combining three seasons.[35][36] It has earned him a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.[37] At the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards, he was nominated for and won Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and was nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.[38] In 2021, he appeared on the Time 100 (Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world) and Bloomberg's 50 Most Influential list.[39][40] In 2023, Sudeikis said in an interview with The Guardian that the personality of the original main character was revised to be kinder because of the culture surrounding Donald Trump's presidency.[41]
Charity work
Sudeikis played on basketball teams at the 2011 and 2016 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game. He and other Kansas City celebrities have hosted the Big Slick for 10 years. The event raises money for the Cancer Center at Children's Mercy Hospital. As of 2023, the event has raised more than $21 million for the cause.[42][43]
He hosted the benefit concert Thundergong! at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Missouri on November 3, 2018, for the charity foundation Steps of Faith which helps provide prosthetic legs and arms.[44]
In June 2004, Sudeikis married American screenwriter Kay Cannon after five years together. The two were on The Second City Las Vegas cast together.[45] They separated in 2008 and divorced in February 2010.[46]
Sudeikis dated actress January Jones in 2010 and People reported in January 2011 that they had split.[47] He was in a relationship with American actress and filmmaker Olivia Wilde from 2011 to 2020, and became engaged in January 2013 but never married.[48] They have a son, born in April 2014[49] and a daughter, born in October 2016.[50] After their breakup, Wilde was publicly served with court documents regarding child custody while she was on stage presenting her film Don't Worry Darling at CinemaCon 2022.[51][52][53] Additionally, Sudeikis and Wilde were both sued by their former nanny for wrongful termination.[54]
Sudeikis is a WNBA fan and New York Liberty season ticket holder, as well as a Brooklyn Nets fan as he lives near the arena where both teams play.[55] He is a supporter of Indiana Fever player Caitlin Clark. He has attended many of her college and professional games, even canceling a scheduled speaking appearance to attend a game.[56]
^Terrero, Ruthanne (October 11, 2010). "Courage and Commitment". TravelAgent Central. Archived from the original on May 20, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
^ abcd"Jason Sudeikis (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
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