John M. Jackson

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John Murice Jackson

Born	John Murice Jackson June 1, 1950 (1950-06-01) (age 58) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States

John Murice^[1] Jackson (born June 1, 1950 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is an American actor, best known for his role on the CBS series JAG.

John was forced to use his middle initial "M." for his professional name because there was already a "John Jackson" registered with the Screen Actors Guild when he joined the union. SAG rules prohibit two or more members from using the same name. (Another actor by the name of John E. Jackson is sometimes confused with John M. Jackson; both use middle initials for the same reason.)

[edit] Career

Before "JAG", Jackson played as a JAG Officer in a well known movie in 1992 A Few Good Men as Capt. West.

Jackson played Rear Admiral Albert Jethro 'A.J.' Chegwidden, Judge Advocate General of the United States Navy, who retired in 2005.

He currently plays FBI Deputy Director Sam Cullen, a recurring character on the Fox series Bones.He also played on the final episode of Jericho as the ambassador of the Texas Embassy.

Jackson was born in Louisiana but raised in Austin, Texas. He played football in high school, and was a walk-on player for the University of Texas Longhorns before an injury sidelined him for good. After college, he returned to Austin to teach social studies at Lyndon B. Johnson High School.

He started acting in his late 20s, at a community theater. In 1980, Jackson went to New York City, and later to Hollywood to further his acting career. He landed small roles in a number of television and motion picture productions, most notably a recurring role in the series Wiseguy. In 1996, he took on the Chegwidden role, and played on JAG for eight seasons.

Jackson is very protective of information about his family life, but it is known that he is married (Jana Gale Hawkins Jackson, not to be confused with the gospel music singer by the same name), and that their son, Conor, plays first base for Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks and they also have a daughter named Katherine.