Jeffrey Dean Morgan (born April 22, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the character Negan in the AMC horror drama series The Walking Dead (2016–2022) and its spin-off The Walking Dead: Dead City (2023–present), for both of which he has received critical acclaim.
He also appeared in television roles including John Winchester in the CW fantasy horror series Supernatural (2005–2008; 2019), Denny Duquette in the ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy (2006–2009), Jason Crouse in the CBS political drama series The Good Wife (2015–2016), Joe Kessler in the Amazon Prime Video adult superhero series' The Boys (2024–2026), and Conquest in Invincible (2025–2026).
His film roles include William Gallagher in P.S. I Love You (2007), the Comedian in the superhero film Watchmen (2009), Clay in The Losers (2010), Sgt. Maj Andrew Tanner in Red Dawn (2012), and Agent Harvey Russell in Rampage (2018). He also starred as a pivotal character in the History Channel's miniseries about the war with Mexico for the creation of Texas, Texas Rising (2015).
Morgan was born in Seattle, Washington, to Sandy Thomas and Richard Dean Morgan.
Morgan grew up in Kirkland, Washington, and attended Ben Franklin Elementary School, where he participated in his first theatre experience. He also attended Rose Hill Junior High.
In 1984, Morgan graduated from Lake Washington High School, where he was captain of the basketball team.
Morgan briefly attended Skagit Valley College to pursue a career in basketball. Following a leg injury that ended his hope of becoming a professional player, he left school to pursue his other interests such as painting and writing.
While living in Seattle, Morgan sold paintings and completed his first acting roles, Uncaged (1991) and To Cross the Rubicon (1991), the latter with his roommate, actor Billy Burke.
Several years later, while helping a friend move from Seattle to Los Angeles, intending only to stay for a weekend, he decided to live there permanently to pursue acting: "I fell into acting, found out I had a little talent, and pursued it."
Starting with Uncaged (1991), Morgan has appeared in over 25 feature films. However, the bulk of his work has been in television. He was a major character in the 1996–97 television series The Burning Zone, appearing in eleven of its nineteen episodes.
In 2005 and 2006, Morgan simultaneously appeared in three television series: in the CW series Supernatural as John Winchester, in a recurring role on ABC's Grey's Anatomy as heart transplant patient Denny Duquette, and as Judah Botwin in two episodes of the Showtime series Weeds. He has also guest-starred in a number of television series, including ER, JAG, Walker, Texas Ranger, Angel, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Sliders, The O.C. and Monk. In 2007, Morgan was cast in a proposed project by Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes. The series, tentatively titled "Correspondents", was to have started production in summer 2007. ABC instead picked up a spin-off of Grey's Anatomy, called Private Practice, that was also created by Rhimes. As a result, "Correspondents" was shelved.
In 2007, Morgan starred in the film The Accidental Husband, which finished filming in March 2007 and was released on DVD in 2009.
Jeffrey starred in the thriller The Resident in 2011. He also appeared in the drama film Days of Wrath in 2008.
In 2009, Morgan portrayed The Comedian, a cigar-chomping antihero in Watchmen, based on Alan Moore's graphic novel. In the same year, Morgan appeared in Taking Woodstock, and played Clay in a comic book film adaptation of The Losers. He also played Jeb Turnbull in the DC comic book film Jonah Hex.
Morgan appeared in the crime thriller Texas Killing Fields as a homicide detective in 2011. The following year, Morgan starred in the television drama series Magic City, which centered on mob life in 1950s Miami. The same year, Morgan starred in the horror-thriller The Possession and had a supporting role in the war film Red Dawn.
In 2014, Morgan played Charlie Peters, the owner of the Cake House, in the season finale of Shameless.
In November 2014, Morgan was cast as Joe DiMaggio opposite Kelli Garner as Marilyn Monroe in The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, a Lifetime four-hour miniseries based on J. Randy Taraborrelli's book of the same name.
In 2015, Morgan portrayed Deaf Smith in Texas Rising, a five-part mini-series which aired on the History Channel. Also in 2015, Morgan became a regular cast member for season 2 of the CBS sci-fi drama Extant. He appeared in an uncredited role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as Bruce Wayne's father, Thomas Wayne.