Eli Jackson

Eli Jackson was born and raised in Baltimore MD. His mother, who studied and performed as an actress/dancer in New York, Washington D.C and Baltimore, exposed Eli to the fine arts at an early age. Completely uninterested in the fine arts as a kid, Eli turned his attention towards hip hop music and rapping. While doing community service for a performing arts center building a set for Croxton’s adaptation “The Wiz”, Eli performed a small but funny part as Glenda’s bodyguard. The director made note of Eli’s comedic timing and ability. The same year, Eli wrote, directed, and starred in a skit for the Baltimore City Dept. of Recreation and Parks Youth Council entitled, “Don’t Judge Us Untill You’ve Heard Us”Eli’s gripping dramatic potential was discovered when he was cast for the role of Josh in William Mastrisimone’s controversial “Bang You’re Dead” portraying a troubled teenager who is haunted by the ghosts of his victims in a school shooting. Eli also studied the fundamentals of acting at CCBC Catonsville Campus originally for an “easy A”, but then became more serious in his studies and took drama on as a major. Eli returned to the stage in “As Cherry Hill Turns” in which he was more widely noticed for his talent and his ability to learn his lines quickly. He was also part of a radio soap opera “As Cherry Hill Turns” on The Big Phat Morning Show on 92Q WERQ FM Baltimore (Radio One). The same year, Eli was cast as a principal character on season three of HBO’s “The Wire”.Eli Jackson hit the stage scene hard performing in various plays such as Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap”, Cheryl L. West’ “Before it Hits Home”, and Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” at the historical Arena Players. Arena Players is the oldest black theater still running in America. Also, Eli joined the Screen Actors Guild. He went on to play Ramon in the romantic comedy “Love Song”, and played the smooth talking kingpin Manodge in the online soap “This Way In” on Black TV Online.Eli returned for another principal character on HBO’s “The Wire” Season 4, and once again returned to the stage to play Valdez in Stephen Adly Guirgis’ “Jesus Hopped the A-Train”. Shortly after, Eli hosted “Keeping It Real” doing celebrity interviews. The producer noticed Eli’s comedic ability and creativity, and provided time on the show in which Eli co wrote, directed and produced comedy sketches for “Keeping It Real” which later turned into a spin-off entitled “As Real As It Gets”.As well as acting, Eli Jackson worked on and developed some of his other skills in performing arts such as stand-up comedy, and performed in a Def Comedy Jam Showcase in Washington D.C. Hip Hop music being his 1st love, Eli still shows excellent displays of his exceptional rhyme writing and freestyle skills he developed as a adolescent. Eli also composes his own creative brand of hip-hop/r&b music.Now, a recent transplant to Los Angeles, CA, Eli continues to carry on his works as an actor, comedian, hip-hop lyricist, and film and music producer. Watch and listen.
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