Jesse L. Martin (full name Jesse Lamont Watkins) was born in 1969, January 18 in Rocky Mount, Virginia, USA. Martin was 3rd of five sons his parents have. His biological father Jesse Reed Watkins, who passed away in 2003, was a driver for a truck company whereas his mother Virginia worked in a college as a counselor. His folks split up when Jesse was still a small kid. Virginia got a second husband after a while and Jesse decided to take his stepfather's last name, thus he is now known as Martin and not Watkins. During his early years while in grade school Jesse and his family moved to Buffalo and this caused the actor to become really shy when it came to speaking. The boy had a southern accent and it was a shock when he moved to a different state. One of Jesse's teachers noticed the problem and thought that the best way to overcome his shyness was for Jesse to join an acting class. Martin did just that and was cast as a pastor in one of the plays that the school produced. It was a big success and the actor stopped having issues with his accent. Jesse was a student at The Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts. While attending it he was declared to be the one with the most talent in his final year of high school. After finishing high school Martin became a student at Tisch School of the Arts selecting its Theater Program.
Career
Jesse Martin began his professional acting career at the age of 26 when he first joined the cast of New York Undercover, a television series focusing on the police work in New York. Since then the actor appeared in quite a few movies and TV shows. He is, however, mostly famous for his role as detective Ed Green in NBC's famous legal drama Law & Order. The actor was a series regular and one of the main characters throughout the whole show. Most recently Jesse was cast as another law enforcement officer. He joined the cast of CW's Flash, a superhero TV show about a speedster saving Central city from metahumans and all other sorts of danger. Jesse plays detective Joe West, Barry Allen's (the Flash) stepfather.
Personal life and trivia
There is not much information about Martin's personal life as the actor likes to keep things under-radar. His height is 6 feet and 3 inches. The actor is currently residing in Manhattan. The actor is not married. He is also not using Twitter.
Nominations and awards
Despite the fact that the actor had a long career, he did not win any significant awards. He does, however, have 15 nominations. He was nominated 7 times for Image Award as an Outstanding Actor in Drama Series for his work on Law & Order. He was also nominated four times for Screen Actors Guilds Award as part of the ensemble for outstanding performance. It is really surprising that after having so many nominations the actor did not manage to win anything.
Jesse Martin had quite a long career and his most recent performance on Flash is a real joy to watch as the actor is without a doubt one of the best actors on the popular CW show.
| Birth Date: | 18 Jan, 1969 |
| Age: | 51 yrs |
| Occupations: | Stage actor Film actor Television actor |
| Citizenship: | United States of America |
| Birth Place: | Rocky Mount |
| residence: | Manhattan |
| Gender: | Male |
| Description: | American stage, musical theatre, film and television actor |
| Net Worth 2021: | 10 million |
