Jesse L. Martin is an American actor and singer.
He is known for originating the role of Tom
Collins in the Broadway theatrical production
of Rent, and for his portrayal of NYPD detective
Ed Green on the NBC drama television series
Law & Order.
Early life
Martin, the third of five sons, was born in
Rocky Mount, Virginia, located in the Blue
Ridge Mountains.
His father, Jesse Reed Watkins, was a truck
driver, and his mother, Virginia Price, a
college counselor; the two divorced when he
was a child.
His mother eventually remarried and Martin
adopted his stepfather's surname.
When Martin was in grade school, the family
relocated to Buffalo, New York, and the move
was not an immediate success: Martin hated
speaking because of his thick Southern accent
and was often overcome with shyness.
A concerned teacher influenced him to join
an after-school drama program and cast him
as the pastor in The Golden Goose.
Being from Virginia, the young Martin played
the character the only way he knew how: as
an inspired Southern Baptist preacher.
The act was a hit, and Martin emerged from
his shell.
Martin attended high school at The Buffalo
Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, where
he was voted "Most Talented" in his senior
class.
He later enrolled in New York University's
prestigious Tisch School of the Arts Theatre
Program, while simultaneously serving as the
wildly popular president of his New York University
dorm, Rubin Hall, a famous building on 5th
Avenue and 10th street, where Mark Twain once
lived.
He was in charge of scores of productions
there, bringing cheer and good will to the
almost 1000 residents.
Career
Stage work
After graduation, Martin toured the states
with John Houseman's The Acting Company.
He appeared in Shakespeare's Rock-in-Roles
at the Actors Theatre of Louisville and The
Butcher's Daughter at The Cleveland Play House,
and returned to Manhattan to perform in local
theatre, soap operas, and commercials.
Finding that auditions, regional theater,
and bit parts were no way to support himself,
Martin waited tables at several restaurants
around the city.
He was literally serving a pizza when his
appearance on CBS's Guiding Light aired in
the same eatery.
While the show aired, the whole waitstaff
gathered around the bar television to cheer
his performance.
Often, during the dinner rush, he broke out
in song.
When he gave his customers their dinner checks,
he told them to "keep it, because someday
I'll be famous!"
Many of his coworkers in the restaurants continue
to follow his career and are considered his
early "fan club".
Martin made his Broadway debut in Timon of
Athens, and then performed in The Government
Inspector with Lainie Kazan.
While employed at the Moondance Diner, he
met the playwright Jonathan Larson, who also
worked on the restaurant's staff.
In 1996, Larson's musical Rent took the theatre
world by storm, with Martin in the role of
gay computer geek/philosophy professor Tom
Collins.
The 1990s update of Puccini's La Bohème earned
six Drama Desk Awards, five Obie Awards, four
Tony Awards, and the Pulitzer Prize.
In 1998, the West End production of RENT opened
with four of the original cast members, including
Martin.
He also played Tad in the concept album of
Bright Lights, Big City.
In 2010, Martin returned to the stage for
one of his biggest theater commitments since
Law & Order performing in the productions
of The Merchant of Venice and The Winter's
Tale as a part of The Public Theater's Shakespeare
in the Park at the Delacorte Theater in Central
Park.
He played the roles of Gratiano and King Polixenes,
respectively.
The two shows were performed in repertory,
beginning with previews on June 9th, 2010
through to the final performance on August
1st, 2010.
The Merchant of Venice later transferred to
Broadway to the Broadhurst Theater for a limited
engagement, during which time Martin reprised
his role as Gratiano.
The show began previews on October 19, 2010,
and officially opened on November 7.
The show began a hiatus on January 9 to accommodate
Al Pacino's pre-existing obligations, and
resumed from February 1, 2011 to February
20, 2011; Martin did not reprise his role
after the hiatus due to previous commitments.
Martin took part in a one-night-only reading
benefit of Romeo and Juliet to celebrate the
50th Anniversary of the opening of the Delacorte
Theater in Central Park, alongside Meryl Streep,
Kevin Kline, Raúl Esparza and others on June
18, 2012.
Television
Martin soon landed roles on Fox's short-lived
413 Hope St. and Eric Bross' independent film
Restaurant.
Ally McBeal's creator, David E. Kelley, attended
Rent's Broadway premiere and remembered Martin
when the show needed a new boyfriend for Calista
Flockhart's Ally.
Martin's performance as Dr. Greg Butters on
Ally McBeal caught David Duchovny's eye, who
then cast Martin as a baseball-playing alien
in a 1999 episode of The X-Files titled "The
Unnatural" that Duchovny wrote and directed.
While still shooting Ally McBeal, Martin heard
rumours that actor Benjamin Bratt planned
to leave the cast of Law & Order.
Martin had tried out for the show years before
and won the minor role of a car-radio thief
named Earl the Hamster, but decided to wait
for a bigger part.
With the opportunity presenting itself, Martin
approached Law & Order producer Dick Wolf
regarding the opening.
Wolf hoped to cast him, and upon hearing that
CBS and Fox both offered Martin development
deals, he gave the actor the part without
an audition.
From 1999 to 2008, he played Det.
Ed Green on Law & Order.
Altogether, he was the fifth longest-serving
cast member; behind S. Epatha Merkerson, Sam
Waterston, Jerry Orbach and Steven Hill.
He had a brief hiatus at the end of the 2004–2005
season while he was filming the movie adaptation
of Rent in which he reprised the role of Tom
Collins.
Martin's final episode of Law & Order aired
April 23, 2008, as he was replaced by Anthony
Anderson.
Martin returned to NBC a year later, as the
co-star of The Philanthropist.
On September 14, 2012, NBC announced that
Martin would be joining the cast of SMASH
during season 2 for a nine-episode arc as
Scott Nichols, the artistic director of the
Manhattan Theatre Workshop.
Martin has also been cast as one of the leads
in an NBC pilot of The Secret Lives of Husbands
and Wives as Greg Cooke.
It was announced on May 10, 2013, that NBC
would not be picking up the pilot.
Martin was cast as Detective West in the pilot
for The Flash, a spin-off from Arrow in January
2014.
Film
On March 4, 2013, it was announced that Martin
would replace Lenny Kravitz as Marvin Gaye
in an upcoming biopic directed by Julien Temple,
and produced by Vassal Benton and Fred Bestall.
Martin had been attached to a different Gaye
biopic for years and had stated that it was
his dream role to portray the legendary Motown
singer.
Other work
Martin voiced the character Ed Green in the
video game Law & Order: Justice is Served,
and narrated the audio book The Fire Next
Time by James Baldwin and On the Shoulder
of Giants, Volume 2: Master Intellects and
Creative Giants by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
He also co-produced the Off-Broadway production
of Fully Committed with RENT co-star Adam
Pascal.
Sits on the board of trustees for the Jonathan
Larson Performing Arts Foundation along with
RENT co-producer Kevin McCollum.
Personal life
In October 2006, Martin returned to Buffalo,
New York, to work on an independent film.
While he was eating at a restaurant, his luggage
was stolen from an SUV; his belongings were
never returned.
He is also known to be a proud resident of
New York City and is adamant that he will
never leave.
Stage work
Ring of Men - Unknown date and character
The Prince and the Pauper - Unknown character
and date
Arabian Nights - Prince of Fools, Clarinetist,
Boy
The Butcher's Daughter - Unknown character
Timon of Athens - "Alcibiades' Officer", "Second
Masseur", Alcibiades.
The Government Inspector - Abdulin, Panteleyeva
Rent - Tom Collins
Rent - Tom Collins
Rent - Tom Collins
Bright Lights, Big City - Tad
The Threepenny Opera – Macheath
The Merchant of Venice - Gratiano
The Winter's Tale - King Polixenes
The Merchant of Venice - Gratiano; transfer
from the Shakespeare in the Park production
Romeo and Juliet - Gregory, Friar John, Watchman
2
Filmography
References
External links
Jesse L. Martin at the Internet Movie Database
Jesse L. Martin at the Internet Broadway Database
No More 'Order' For Martin
