Jay Rowland Ferguson Jr. (born July 25, 1974) is an American actor. Best known as Taylor Newton in Evening Shade (1990-1994), Stan Rizzo in Mad Men (2010-2015), and Ben in The Conners (2018–present).
Biography
Ferguson was born in Dallas, Texas. In 1989, Ferguson played Ponyboy Curtis in the television adaptation of S. E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders.
His notable television roles include Taylor Newton in four seasons of the CBS sitcom Evening Shade, Dr. Todd Hooper on Judging Amy, Rich Connelly in the 2005 NBC television series Surface, Agent Warren Russell on the Showtime series Sleeper Cell, Stan Rizzo on the AMC series Mad Men, and as Pat O’Neal, the father of the O’Neal family in the ABC series The Real O’Neals.
His film roles include Billy in Higher Learning, Elmer Conway in The Killer Inside Me, and Keith Clayton in The Lucky One.
In 2018, he played Chip Curry in the CBS sitcom Living Biblically.
Since 2018, he has played Darlene’s boss (and eventual lover), Ben, in The Conners.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Higher Learning | Billy | |
| 1997 | Campfire Tales | Cliff | |
| 1997 | Pink as the Day She Was Born | Brad | |
| 1998 | Girl | Parker Blackman | |
| 1999 | Blue Ridge Fall | Shane | |
| 2000 | The In Crowd | Andy | |
| 2001 | Hollywood Palms | Riley | |
| 2002 | The Year That Trembled | Isaac Hoskins | |
| 2006 | Passengers | Edsel | Short film |
| 2006 | Spreading the News | Sampson | Short film |
| 2010 | The Killer Inside Me | Elmer Conway | |
| 2012 | The Lucky One | Keith Clayton | |
| 2014 | Back in the Day | Mark | |
| 2014 | The Makings of You | Wallis | a.k.a. Never My Love |
| 2015 | Little Loopers | Todd | |
| 2015 | Club Life | Steven | |
| 2015 | The Last Dispensation of St. James | Roth | Short film |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Shattered Dreams | Teenage Luke | Television film |
| 1990 | The Outsiders | Ponyboy Curtis | All 13 episodes |
| 1990-94 | Evening Shade | Taylor Newton | All 98 episodes |
| 1995 | The Price of Love | Beau | Television film |
| 2002 | Glory Days | Sheriff Rudy Dunlop | All 9 episodes |
| 2003-04 | Judging Amy | Dr. Todd Hooper | 8 episodes |
| 2005 | Medium | Tommy Lahaine | Episode: “Lucky” |
| 2005-06 | Surface | Richard Connelly | All 15 episodes |
| 2006 | Sleeper Cell | Case Agent Warren Russell | 6 episodes |
| 2008 | CSI: Miami | Larry Hopkins | Episode: “Raising Caine” |
| 2008-09 | Easy Money | Cooper Buffkin | All 8 episodes |
| 2009 | Weeds | Keith | Episode: “Machete Up Top” |
| 2009 | Lie to Me | Jimmy | Episode: “Grievous Bodily Harm” |
| 2010 | Castle | Dick Coonan | Episode: “Sucker Punch” |
| 2010 | Ghost Whisperer | Gil Bradley | Episode: “Lethal Combination” |
| 2010-15 | Mad Men | Stan Rizzo | 39 episodes |
| 2011 | No Ordinary Family | Agent Norris | Episode: “No Ordinary Future” |
| 2011 | Burn Notice | John O’Lear | Episode: “Besieged” |
| 2012 | The Unknown | Chef Nick Morrietti | Episode: “Prime Cut” |
| 2013 | Ray Donovan | FBI Agent Thomas Volcheck | Episode: “Bucky Fuckn’ Dent” |
| 2015 | Chasing Life | Owen Gordon | 3 episodes |
| 2016-17 | The Real O’Neals | Pat O’Neal | Main role; 29 episodes |
| 2016 | The Mindy Project | Drew Schakowsky | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | Comedy Bang! Bang! | Paul Bunyan | Episode: “Kaley Cuoco Wears a Black Blazer and Slip on Sneakers” |
| 2017 | Twin Peaks | Special Agent Randall Headley | 4 episodes |
| 2018 | The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story | FBI Agent Keith Evans | 2 episodes |
| 2018 | Living Biblically | Chip | Lead role; 13 episodes |
| 2018 | The Romanoffs | Joe Garner | Episode: “End of the Line” |
| 2018–Present | The Conners | Ben Olinsky | Recurring role (Seasons 1–2), Main role (Seasons 3–) |
| 2020 | Briarpatch | Jake Spivey | Lead role |
