Jeffrey Doucette (born November 25, 1947) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...

. Growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he was the second of eight children born to Elizabeth (Betty Andres) and William (Bill) Doucette. Jeffrey attended Marquette University High School and

Lewis University Lewis University is a private Roman Catholic and Lasallian university in Romeoville, Illinois, United States. The enrollment is currently around 6,800 students. Lewis offers more than 80 undergraduate majors and programs of study, 22 graduate ...

Romeoville, Illinois Romeoville is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. The village is located southwest of Chicago on the Des Plaines River. Per the 2020 census, the population was 39,863. It is located in the southwest suburban area of Chicago near I ...

, where he became the first theater major and helped build the theater and theater program. He studied theater and graduated from

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

. In 1974, Doucette moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and joined the Second City Touring Company, where he met his future comedy partner, Ernst Emling, and formed the comedy duo Jeff and Ernst. Within two months, the pair were signed by the William Morris Agency and toured the country with folk singer

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ( ...

. They opened in larger venues for acts including Barry Manilow and The Spinners. In 1976, Doucette and Emling moved to Los Angeles and joined other young comics in building the foundation for the comedy boom of the 1980s, such as

Freddie Prinze Frederick James Prinze Sr. (born Frederick Karl Pruetzel; June 22, 1954 – January 29, 1977) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Prinze was the star of the NBC-TV sitcom ''Chico and the Man'' from 1974 until his suicide in 1977. Prinze ...

;

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

;

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...

;

Richard Lewis Richard, Rich, Richie, Rick, Ricky or Dick Lewis may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Richard Field Lewis Jr. (1907–1957), American radio network owner * Dick "Rocko" Lewis (Richard Henry Lewis III, 1908–1966), American entertainer * Rich ...

;

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

;

Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in ''Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in ''Beetlejuice'' ( ...

;

Jim Varney James Albert Varney Jr. (June 15, 1949 – February 10, 2000) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his broadly comedic role as Ernest P. Worrell, for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award, as well as appearing in films and ...

; and

Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman ( ; January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was an American entertainer and performance artist. While often called a "comedian", Kaufman preferred to describe himself instead as a "song and dance man". He has sometimes b ...

. After many appearances on variety and talk shows, the pair made their first appearance on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'' in 1977. Doucette has appeared in over 92 films and television series, including ''

Splash Splash or Splash! or The Splash may refer to: Common meanings * Splash (fluid mechanics), sudden disturbances on the surface of water Entertainment * ''Splash'' (film), a 1984 fantasy film starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah ** ''Splash, Too'' ...

'', ''

All The Way All the Way may refer to: Film and television * ''All the Way'', an Australian film of 1998 directed by Marque Owen * ''All the Way'' (2001 film), a film directed by Shi Runjiu * ''All the Way'' (film), a 2016 adaptation of Robert Schenkkan's ...

'', ''

The Dentist 2 ''The Dentist 2'' (also known as ''The Dentist 2: Brace Yourself'', ''D2: Without Novacaine'' and ''The Dentist 2: You Know the Drill'') is a 1998 American psychological slasher film, a sequel to ''The Dentist'' (1996), it is the second installme ...

'', ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...

'', '' Weird Science'', ''

Newhart ''Newhart'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, ...

'', ''

Alien Nation ''Alien Nation'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Rockne S. O'Bannon (later known for ''Farscape''), comprising film, television, and other media productions about alien refugees living on Earth. The series began with the ...

'', ''

Townies ''Townies'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September to December 1996. Created by Matthew Carlson, the series stars Molly Ringwald, Jenna Elfman, and Lauren Graham. Synopsis Set in Gloucester, Massachusetts, ''Townies'' follows t ...

'', ''

Dog With A Blog ''Dog with a Blog'' is an American comedy television series that aired on Disney Channel from October 12, 2012 to September 25, 2015. The series stars G Hannelius, Blake Michael, Francesca Capaldi, Regan Burns, and Beth Littleford, and also feat ...

'', ''

3rd Rock from the Sun ''3rd Rock from the Sun'' is an American television sitcom created by Bonnie and Terry Turner, which originally aired from January 9, 1996, to May 22, 2001, on NBC. The show is about four Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrials who are on an e ...

'', '' ER'', ''

That '70s Show ''That '70s Show'' is an American television Period piece, period teen sitcom that aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focuses on the lives of a group of six teenage friends living in the ficti ...

'' and ''

Beverly Hills 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran fo ...

''. He has been a voice artist in many television commercials and cartoons. Doucette was the main antagonist in the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film ''

Hisss The Handheld Isothermal Silver Standard Sensor (HISSS) project was sponsored by DARPA in the 2000s to develop a hand-held sensor that is capable of identifying biological weapon threats across the entire spectrum including bacteria, viruses and tox ...

'' and appeared in the

Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

attraction

Cranium Command Cranium Command was an attraction at the Wonders of Life pavilion at Walt Disney World Resort's Epcot theme park. The show was a humorous presentation on the importance of the human brain. The show's script was written by Jenny Tripp, a staff w ...

. In television commercials, Doucette has portrayed

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

in ads for

Chevrolet Volt The Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in hybrid manufactured by General Motors, also marketed in rebadged variants as the Holden Volt in Australia and New Zealand and the Buick Velite 5 in China, and with a different fascia as the Vauxhall Ampera in t ...

Quicken Loans Rocket Mortgage, LLC (formerly known as Quicken Loans LLC) is a mortgage loan provider. It is headquartered in the One Campus Martius building in the financial district of Downtown Detroit, Michigan. In January 2018, the company became the larg ...

; Ballpark's Finest Hot Dogs; and El Monterrey breakfast foods. He also made a special appearance as Franklin on ''

Mike & Molly ''Mike & Molly'' is an American television sitcom created by Mark Roberts on CBS. It premiered on September 20, 2010, and aired 127 episodes over six seasons. The series stars Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy as the eponymous Mike and Molly, ...

''. Doucette is also a writer and director, having written two plays: ''Big Head Women'', a science-fiction comedy; and ''Without Annette,'' an improvisational comedy written with actress and writer Hope Juber and published by Playscripts, Inc. in 2015. In 1991, Doucette received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Lead Performance for "Rage, or I'll Be Home For Christmas" at the Alliance Theater in Burbank. In 2014, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Student Film Festival Hollywood (ISFFH). Doucette and his wife, Saba, are licensed spiritual practitioners in the United Centers for Spiritual Living; they are active as teachers, counselors and teen and ‘tween group leaders. His ''Life Play'' seminars and workshops focus on improvisation as a path for spiritual and self-discovery.

Filmography

Live action roles

Film

Television

Voice roles

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doucette, Jeff 1947 births Living people American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Male actors from Milwaukee