Jake Smollett (born July 29, 1989) is an American actor and cooking personality.

Early life and career

Smollett was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

to a family of actors, the son of Janet ( Harris) and Joel Smollett. His father was

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

(his family immigrated from Russia and Poland), and his mother is African-American. Smollett began his career as a diaper model. His first role in a scripted series was in '' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper''. He then starred alongside his five brothers and sisters in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

sitcom, '' On Our Own''. Smollett also starred alongside his sister

Jurnee Smollett Jurnee Diana Smollett (born October 1, 1986) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress appearing on television sitcoms, including '' On Our Own'' (1994–1995) and ''Full House'' (1992–1994). She gained greater recognition ...

Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

's son in the critically acclaimed feature film ''

Eve's Bayou ''Eve's Bayou'' is a 1997 American Southern Gothic drama film written and directed by Kasi Lemmons, who made her directorial debut with this film. Samuel L. Jackson served as a producer, and starred in the film with Lisa Nicole Carson, Jurnee ...

'', directed by

Kasi Lemmons Kasi Lemmons (; born Karen Lemmons, February 24, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and actress. She made her directorial debut with '' Eve's Bayou'' (1997), followed by '' Talk to Me'' (2007), '' Black Nativity'' (2013), '' Harri ...

. He was in

ABC Family The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...

's ''

The Middleman ''The Middleman'' is a comic book series written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach with art by Les McClaine and published by Viper Comics. The series was initially intended to be a television pilot that went on to be published as a comic, before bei ...

''. Jake portrayed Noser, a character derived from

Javier Grillo-Marxuach Javier "Javi" Grillo-Marxuach (), born October 28, 1969 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a television screenwriter and producer, and podcaster, known for his work as writer and producer on the first two seasons of the ABC television series '' Lost'', ...

's comic book. The entire cast of ''The Middleman'' sat on the panel for

Comic-Con A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at co ...

in July 2009. In 2016 Smollett joined his five siblings—brothers Jojo Smollett,

Jussie Smollett Jussie Smollett (, born June 21, 1982) is an American actor and singer. He began his career as a child actor in 1991 debuting in ''The Mighty Ducks'' (1992). In 2015, Smollett portrayed musician Jamal Lyon in the Fox drama series ''Empire'', a ...

, Jocqui Smollett and sisters Jazz Smollett and

—on

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

to cook family-style meals every Saturday on ''Smollett Eats''. He has also recently appeared guest judging on Food Network's hit show ''

Chopped Junior ''Chopped Junior'' is an American reality-based cooking television game show series hosted by Ted Allen that pits four adolescent chefs against each other, competing for a chance to win $10,000 and a Chopped Junior chef's coat. The show is a spi ...

''. In 2017 Jake joined

Rachael Ray Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968) is an American cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosts the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program '' Rachael Ray'', and the Food Network series ''30 Minute Meals''. ...

on ''The Rachael Ray Show'' all season long for cooking segments.

Acting roles

* '' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'' (1992), Jake (himself)Samuel L. Jackson & Lynn Whitfield, Star In Movie About Success And Secrets Of Louisiana Family 'Eve's Bayou'
Jet, 10 Nov 1997, page 61, Vol. 92, No. 25, ISSN 0021-5996, Johnson Publishing Company * '' On Our Own'' (1994–1995), Joc Jerrico * ''A Guy Named Max'' (1996) Clarence Whitmoore * ''

'' (1997), Poe Batiste * ''

'' (2008–2009), Noser * ''Pitch This'' (2009), Luke * ''Living by Design with Jake and Jazz'' (2019), Jake (himself)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smollett, Jake 1989 births Living people Male actors from New York City African-American male actors American male child actors American male film actors American male television actors American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Romanian-Jewish descent African-American Jews Jewish American male actors 21st-century African-American people 21st-century American Jews 20th-century African-American people