Biography
Jim Downey is an American comedy writer, producer and actor, also credited as James Downey. He joined the writing staff of Saturday Night Live in 1976 and remained until 2013, making him the show's longest-tenured writer. He served as head writer for Late Night with David Letterman from 1982 to 1983.
Downey graduated from Harvard University in 1974, where he was president of the Harvard Lampoon. His acting credits include There Will Be Blood (2007) as Al Rose, Billy Madison (1995) as the principal, Veep (2012) as Jim Caldwell, and The Chair Company (2025) as Douglas. He has won multiple Primetime Emmy Awards.
