Photo: Dominick D / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Jussie Smollett is impossible to write about honestly without holding two things at once. On talent, he's real: a child actor from The Mighty Ducks who grew into Jamal Lyon on Empire and a string of NAACP Image Awards, with genuine ability as both actor and singer. But the story most people remember is the 2019 incident in Chicago, which police determined he had staged, and which became a national flashpoint. I won't pretend that didn't reshape his career. To me he's a cautionary case study: serious gifts, and a self-inflicted controversy that overshadowed nearly all of them.
Overview
Jussie Smollett (, born June 21, 1982) is an American actor, filmmaker and singer. He began his career as a child actor in 1991 debuting in The Mighty Ducks (1992). From 2015 to 2019, Smollett portrayed musician Jamal Lyon in the Fox drama series Empire. In January 2019, Smollett claimed to have been a victim of a hate crime, but police later determined that he had staged the attack with two acquaintances.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Jussie Smollett
- Name (Japanese)
- ジャシー・スモレット
- Reading
- じゃしー・すもれっと
- Born
- June 21, 1982 (age 43)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Dog
- Origin
- Santa Rosa, California, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / television actor / film actor / singer / voice actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Paramus Catholic High School
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 2016 NAACP Image Award – Chairman's Award
- 2016 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Duo or Group
- 2016 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Song
- 2016 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist
- 2017 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Actor — see all → · Television actor — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.