JD was born in the delta town of Greenville Mississippi also the birthplace of Muppets creator Jim Henson on the same day Richard Nixon was elected president He is of IrishFrenchGermanCherokeeChoctaw decent the oldest of 7 siblings and attended 17 different schools public and private while moving back and forth between his mother and father His greatgreatgreatgreat uncle was Horace Mann the founder of the American Public School system His father Puddin yep thats what they call him is a welderartistamateur archaeologist and inventor His mother Sally has had many professions including concert promoter and owner of a countrywestern nightclub called The Headless Horseman where as a young child JD spent many school nights until the wee hours of the morning hanging out backstage and on stage with the likes of Hank Williams Jr Juice Newton Jerry Lee Lewis Johnny Paycheck David Allen Coe Ray Price and many others After a short stint in college and a 15 month stint in the Marine Corps stationed at 29 Palms California and after hanging out with some actors in LA JD thought he would give acting a shot His only experience with acting had been playing the Prince in his preschool production of The Nutcracker and getting kicked out of his senior play Oklahoma after his second rehearsal because he and a friend drank a beer before hand After the Marine Corps he returned to Mississippi and worked as a debt collector for his mothers collection agency After a year of hating his job he decided to return to college and get a degree in theatre at The University of Southern Mississippi Once on stage at college he knew acting was what he had to do His second year in theatre he was one of 20 finalists in the state selected to attend SETC Southeastern Theatre Conference In 1995 a friend offered JD a 1000 to come to Los Angeles and perform a lead role in his play Dylans Ghost at the MorganWixson Theatre in Santa Monica JD took him up on the offer and left college a semester before graduating and since then has lived back and forth between Hollywood California Austin Texas and Oxford Mississippi where he just completed writing and directing his first independent feature Glorious Mail2005 Even though he appeared on the shortlived game show Hollywood Showdown with Todd Newton and won nearly 12000 his friends like to tell him that hes almost one lucky son of a gun Mainly because hes come so close to landing lead roles in major films so many times usually being the directors second choice In 2004 his luck proved true once again when he purchased a 100 raffle ticket and was 1st Runner Up 2nd Choice for a 250000 house in United Ways New Home Giveaway where instead he won an artists print worth 80 IMDb Mini Biography By JDsMOM
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