Who is Jesse L. Martin?
Jesse Lamont Martin (neé Watkins) was born on 18 January 1969 under the zodiac sign of Capricorn, in Rocky Mount, Virginia USA. He’s a 53-year-old actor, writer director, and producer, probably best recognized for landing the role of Detective Ed Green in the NBC police procedural series “Law & Order” (1999-2008) and featuring as Joseph West in The CW’s superhero series “The Flash” (2014-2021). He is also known for performing as Tom Collins in the Broadway musical “Rent”.
How rich is he, as of now? Jesse L. Martin Net Worth
As of early 2022, Jesse L. Martin’s net worth is estimated at over $10 million, earned through his successful involvement in the entertainment industry, working on 40 television and film titles since he launched his career back in 2000.
Early Life, Parents, Siblings, Nationality, Ethnicity, Religion
Jesse L. Martin spent his early years in his hometown of Rocky Mount, where he was raised with his three brothers by their father, Jesse Reed Watkins who was a truck driver, and mother Virginia Price, who worked as a college counselor. Following the divorce of his parents, his mother remarried and he and his brothers took the surname of their stepfather. He holds American nationality, belongs to African-American ethnic group, and is a Christian.
Educational Background
While in grade school, Jesse’s teacher cast him in a play entitled “The Golden Goose” due to his shyness. His performance became an instant success, and he developed his love for acting.
Jesse went to high school at the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, where he was named “Most Talented” as a senior. Upon matriculation, he enrolled into the prestigious Tisch School of the Art’ theatre program at New York University; he also attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute.
Career Beginnings
Right after graduation, Jesse L. Martin started touring with John Houseman’s The Acting Company. He also starred in the Actors Theatre of Louisville production of “Shakespeare’s Rock-In-Roles”, and the Cleveland Play House production of “The Butcher’s Daughter”. He then started attending various auditions until he booked his debut TV appearance as Keith in an episode of the highly popular CBS soap opera “Guiding Light” in 1992.
Shortly afterwards, Jesse made his Broadway debut in William Shakespeare’s “Timon Of Athens”, after which he performed next to Lainie Kazan in Nikolai Gogol’s “The Government Inspector”.
Rise to Fame
Jesse L. Martin’s first major success came when he met Jonathan Larson, who offered him the role of gay computer geek Tom Collins in his rock musical “Rent”, which is based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera “La Bohème”. It was a huge critical success, and won numerous awards such as the Tony Award for Best Musical as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. At the time, he also landed the role of Antonio Collins in the short-lived Fox drama series “413 Hope St.”, which was aired from 1997 until it was canceled after a single season in 1998.
The same year, he made his feature film debut as Quincy in Eric Bross’ independent drama film “Restaurant”, next to Adrien Brody and Simon Baker. His next significant role came later that year, when he was chosen by David E. Kelley to portray the main character of Dr. Greg Butters in his Emmy Award-winning Fox legal comedy-drama series “Ally McBeal” from 1998 to 1999. After leaving the show, he guest-starred as Josh Exley in the episode “The Unnatural” of the hit Fox sci-fi drama series “The X-Files” in 1999.
Continued Success
During his time on “Ally McBeal”, Jesse L. Martin heard that Benjamin Bratt had left the cast of the NBC police procedural series “Law & Order”, and asked the producers of the series to give him a part, so he booked the role of Detective Edward ‘Ed’ Green.
He joined the cast in 1999, and became the fifth-longest serving cast member, as he remained in the show until 2008 when he was replaced by Anthony Anderson. He also reprised the role in “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (1999-2000), “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (2001), “Law & Order: Trial By Jury” (2005), and “Andy Barker, P.I.” (2007). Furthermore, he did the voice-over of the character in the 2004 video game “Law & Order: Justice Is Served”.
While in the series, he also worked on other projects – in 2002, he played Andre Anderson in the short thriller film “Burning House Of Love”, which was followed by his portrayals of Roc Williams in the 2003 drama film “Season Of Youth”, next to Jonathan Bennett and Ethan Cohn, and a ghost in the 2004 NBC musical film “A Christmas Carol”, based on Charles Dickens’ novella of the same title.
In the following year, Jesse reprised the role of Tom Collins in the film adaptation of “Rent”, after which he played Judd in the independent drama film “The Cake Eaters”, alongside Kristen Stewart and Aaron Stanford, and Stack Collins in the short comedy film “The C.O.R.P.S.”, both released in 2007.
Further Work
In 2008, Jesse L. Martin had the minor part of a postal worker in the NBC special “A Muppets Christmas: Letters To Santa”, which was followed by his appearances as Paul in the romantic drama film “Peter And Vandy”, and as Shawn in the thriller film “Buffalo Bushido”, both in 2009. Later that year, he was cast as Philip Maidstone in the NBC action-drama series “The Philanthropist”; however, it was canceled after one season.
Thereafter, he took such roles as Daryl King in the 2011 biographical drama film “Puncture”, next to Chris Evans, and Marcus Hill in the 2012 musical comedy film “Joyful Noise”. In 2013, he featured as Greg Cooke in the made-for-TV thriller film “Secret Lives Of Husbands And Wives” ,and took the recurring role of Scott Nichols in the NBC musical drama series “Smash”, created by Theresa Rebeck and produced by Steven Spielberg.
In 2014, Jesse joined the main cast of The CW’s superhero series “The Flash”, a spin-off series from “Arrow”, landing the role of Joseph ‘Joe’ West until 2021, appearing in more than 150 episodes.
Concurrently, he also wrote, directed and produced the short film “The Letter Carrier” (2016), provided his voice to Kai in two episodes of the Disney animated children’s series “Sofia The First” (2016-2017), and appeared in the Fox special “Rent: Live” (2019).
Most recently, he also served as an executive producer for the web series “Sidetracked” in 2021. Speaking about his upcoming projects, it’s announced that he’ll appear in such film titles as “Sexual Healing”, “Re: Uniting”, and “Silent Rhythm”.
Other Projects
Jesse L. Martin was the narrator of such audiobooks as James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time” and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s “On The Shoulder Of Giants, Volume 2: Master Intellects And Creative Giants”. He also served as the co-producer of the off-Broadway production of “Fully Committed” with Adam Pascal. He is on the board of trustees of the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation.
Appearance and Vital Statistics
Regarding his appearance, Jesse L. Martin has short dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He stands at a height of 6ft 1in (1.85m) – information about his weight, vital statistics, biceps size, and shoe size isn’t available.
Personal Life
Jesse L. Martin isn’t very open when it comes to speak about his personal life, so he hasn’t shared any details about it so far. Some people speculate that he’s gay since he portrayed a gay character in “Rent”; however, the rumors haven’t been confirmed. He’s single at the moment. and focused on his professional career. His current residence is in Manhattan, New York City.
