Christopher Jackson (actor)

Born in Metropolis, Illinois, and raised in Cairo, Illinois, by his mother, Jane Adams, a vocal music teacher, and stepfather Herbert Michael Hodges.[3][4] In 1993 he graduated from Cairo High School.[4] While a student there, he performed in plays and was encouraged to pursue a career as an actor by one of his high school teachers, Lynn Steveson, who also led the school's debate team of which Jackson was a part. She also cast him in a production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible.[4] He credits Pilots basketball coach Larry Baldwin and Pastor Larry Potts of Mighty Rivers Regional Worship Center as other important mentors during his formative years in Cairo.[4]

After graduating from high school, Jackson attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City.[5]

Jackson began his career in 1995 starring in the Off-Broadway musical Time and the Wind by composer Galt MacDermot of Hair fame.[6] He made his Broadway debut in 1997 as an ensemble member and the understudy for Simba in the Original Broadway Cast of The Lion King.[4] He later took over the role of Simba in 2000.[7] He then did work in the theater scenes in Chicago and Minneapolis–Saint Paul, notably earning a BATC Award nomination for Best Actor for Beggar's Holiday in 2004 for and winning a Joseph Jefferson Award (Chicago's equivalent to the Tony Awards) in 2006 for Comfortable Shoes. In 2007 he returned to New York to join the cast of the Off-Broadway musical In the Heights as Benny.[8] The cast won the 2007 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. He continued with the show when it moved to Broadway in 2008.[9]

In 2009 Jackson was tapped to write music for the revived children's television program The Electric Company.[10] In 2012 he returned to Broadway as Delray in Memphis, and in 2013 he replaced Everett Bradley as "Diga Diga Doo" in the Broadway musical After Midnight.[11][12] In 2013 he appeared as Derek Jeter and Bobby Sturges in the Eric Simonson's Off-Broadway play Bronx Bombers at Primary Stages.[13] He remained with the production when it moved to Broadway in 2014.[14] That same year he portrayed Vertus in the short lived Broadway musical Holler If Ya Hear Me which was based on the life of Tupac.[15]

In 2015, Jackson originated the role of President George Washington in the musical Hamilton on Broadway.[16][17] He was nominated for a Tony Award and concluded his run on November 13, 2016.[18] Beginning with the 2016–2017 season, he plays Chunk Palmer in the CBS courtroom drama Bull.[19] Jackson's film and TV work includes Moana, Tracers, The Good Wife, Person of Interest, A Gifted Man, and Nurse Jackie. He is also a member of hip-hop group Freestyle Love Supreme.[20][21] He has been nominated for three Emmy Awards for composing music and lyrics for television; he won the “Outstanding Original Song” Emmy Award in 2011 for his lyrics to "What I Am," which he co-wrote for Sesame Street with Bill Sherman.[22] The success led to a first look deal at CBS Studios.[23]

In February 2021, Jackson signed with Nickelodeon to compose the NOGGIN SVOD original series Rhymes Through Times,[24] which features Nick's preschool characters in a Broadway extravaganza recreating the stories of the greatest heroes of America, specifically focusing on Black history.[25] The animation for the show was done by LionForge Animation LLC. who have previously worked on the Oscar-winning Netflix movie Hair Love.[26] The second season dropped on March 7, 2022.

In 2004, after meeting through a production of In the Heights, Jackson married actress and singer Veronica. Before the first run-through of the Off-Broadway production of In the Heights, Jackson learned that his son had been diagnosed with autism.[27] Jackson and his wife are advocates for KultureCity: a nonprofit promoting acceptance and inclusion of all individuals regardless of their abilities. They have one son, C. J., and one daughter, Jadelyn. They live in Scarsdale, New York.[20]

• Christopher Jackson at IMDb
• Christopher Jackson at the Internet Broadway Database