Jonathan Groff (born May 17, 1962) is an American actor, comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Jerome Sinfeld in the Netflix series blackAF, and as an executive producer of the ABC sitcom black-ish (2014–2022).[1]
Groff graduated from Brown University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts in history, initially pursuing a career in stand-up comedy before transitioning to television writing.[2] He wrote for The Jon Stewart Show and Short Attention Span Theater, hosted by Stewart and, later, Marc Maron.[3] Groff was the head writer at Late Night with Conan O'Brien in the late 1990s.[4] After leaving Late Night, Groff developed Father of the Pride with Jeffrey Katzenberg.[3] Subsequently, he was the showrunner for Andy Barker, P.I., co-created with O'Brien.[2][5] More recently, he has worked on Black-ish and as co-showrunner on Happy Endings.[6]
In March 1995, he was a 5-time undefeated champion on Jeopardy!, winning $60,500, and a semifinalist in the 1995 Tournament of Champions in November. In 2005, he was invited to the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, where he won $34,001 in the first 2 rounds of the tournament before being eliminated.[7]