Jay Jackson is an American actor and former news journalist best known for his role as Perd Hapley in the mockumentary sitcom series Parks and Recreation.
Biography[]
Little is known about Jackson's past, including his birthday, the names of his foster parents, and where he went to school. What is known is that he was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, grew up in the foster care system, and joined the navy from 1986 to 1990. Jackson got his start as a news reporter. Developing an interest in the world of news because of his foster parents frequently watching the news, Jackson attended both the San Diego City College and the United Broadcasting College, where he would do news breaks for a jazz station during his time at the former college. Jackson would then get a part time job reporting for ABC, before eventually getting a full time job at the independent station KUSI. Jackson would then begin freelancing at the United Paramount Network until 1997, when he was offered a job at KCAL. Jackson would continue to report until 2005, when he decided to focus on both the business he created and on his acting career.
Jackson got his first on-screen role in 2007, when he was first cast as a reporter in the hit crime drama mystery series Dexter. Jackson got his first major recurring role in 2009, when he portrayed Pawnee news reporter Perd Hapley in the mockumentary sitcom series Parks and Recreation. Since then, Jackson has appeared in TV shows and movies such as The Orville, Bones, Scandal, Colony, Battleship, Hacked, Daddy, Blunt Talk, Revenge, Fast Five, The Mentalist, Supergirl, and Criminal Minds.
On Criminal Minds[]
Jackson portrayed Gary Omri, the Cyber Crimes Unit Chief and Garcia's boss during her brief period in the Cyber Crimes Unit, in the Season Thirteen episode "Last Gasp".
Filmography[]
- Scandal - 27 episodes - (2012-2018) - BNC News Anchor Mike Waters
- Criminal Minds - "Last Gasp" (2018) TV episode - Cyber Crimes Unit Chief Gary Omri
- The 5th Quarter (2018) - Fred
- American Crime Story (2018) - Black Expert
- The Orville (2017) - Reporter
- The Catch - 3 episodes (2016-2017) - BNC News Anchor
- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2017) - Rick Scheil
- Rosewood (2016) - Reporter
- Mary + Jane - 2 episodes (2016) - Terry Harvey
- Bones (2016) - News Anchor
- Bad Internet (2016) - Parm
- News Hits (2016) - Hector
- Hacked (2016) - News Anchor
- Supergirl - 8 episodes (2015-2016) - News Anchor
- Colony (2016) - Hank
- Daddy (2015) - Reverend Lockwood
- Blunt Talk (2015) - Reporter
- Pretty Little Liars (2015) - News Anchor
- Parks and Recreation - 32 episodes (2009-2015) - Perd Hapley
- Beyond (2015) - TV Host
- Revenge (2014) - News Anchor
- Sequestered (2014) - Reporter
- This Magic Moment (2013) - Richard Porter
- Battleship (2012) - American Newscaster
- Fred: The Show (2012) - News Anchor
- Body of Proof (2012) - Newscaster
- The Mentalist - 2 episodes (2010-2011) - News Anchor
- Fast Five (2011) - Field Reporter
- The Closer (2008) - LA Reporter
- Dexter (2007) - Reporter
External Links[]
For an up-to-date filmography, see here.