Cheyenne David Jackson (born July 12, 1975) is an American actor and singer. His credits include leading roles in Broadway musicals and other stage roles, as well as film and television roles, concert singing, and music recordings.
After beginning his acting career in regional theatre in Seattle, Washington, Jackson moved to Manhattan and was an understudy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002) and Aida (2003). He next originated the role of Matthew in the workshop production of Altar Boyz (2004) for the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and was replaced by Scott Porter for the Off-Broadway run. Jackson's first leading role on Broadway was in All Shook Up (2005), which earned him a Theatre World Award for "Outstanding Broadway Debut". Since then, on the New York stage, he has starred in The Agony & the Agony (2006), Xanadu (2007; Drama League, Drama Desk nominations), Damn Yankees (2008), Finian's Rainbow (2010; Drama Desk nomination), 8 (2011), The Heart of the Matter (2012), The Performers (2013), The Secret Garden (2016), and Into the Woods (2022).
He has also appeared in a number of films, including the 2006 Academy Award-nominated United 93, in which his portrayal of Mark Bingham earned him the Boston Society of Film Critics 2006 award for Best Ensemble Cast. He also had a leading role in the 2014 independent romantic comedy ensemble, Mutual Friends, and guest roles in television series such as NBC's 30 Rock and Fox's Glee. Beginning in 2015, Jackson starred in the FX horror anthology television series American Horror Story in its fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth seasons.
In concert, Jackson has sold out Carnegie Hall twice: The Power of Two in 2010 and Music of the Mad Men Era in 2011. He also performs in cabarets. In addition to his Broadway cast albums, he has released three albums of popular music, including a joint album called The Power of Two with Michael Feinstein in 2008. In 2012, Jackson released two singles, "Drive" and "Before You", from his 2013 album I'm Blue, Skies. In 2016, Jackson released his third studio album, Renaissance, an album adapted and expanded from his solo concert Music of the Mad Men Era.
He also stars as Hades in Disney Channel's Descendants 3. In 2020, he reunited with Descendants alumni Kenny Ortega and Booboo Stewart in Netflix's Julie and the Phantoms.
Early life
Jackson was born at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, Washington, on July 12, 1975, to David and Sherri Jackson, and was named by his father after the 1950s Western series Cheyenne. The third of four children, he was raised in Oldtown, Idaho, a "teeny mill town" in a rural area in northern Idaho near the Washington border. His father was a Vietnam veteran. His mother taught Jackson, his sister, and his two brothers to sing and regularly played music by Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Elvis Presley at home. Throughout his childhood, Jackson lived with his family in a rural home that had an outhouse and no running water. He moved to Spokane as a teenager.
In Seattle, Jackson worked as an ad executive at a magazine and did some theater work on the side, earning his Equity card. "As soon as I found out what theater was, what Broadway was, I thought, 'Oh, that's what I'll do with my life.' Just a matter of getting all the pieces in place", he said. Inspired to rethink his career after the September 11 attacks, he moved to New York City to pursue his dream of being an actor: " was something I always wanted to do but I was too scared and didn't have the confidence. 9/11 changed everything for all of us. It gave me the urgency."
