Jack Landron

Jack Landrón is an AfroPuerto Rican folksinger songwriter and actor Because he was known as Jackie Washington early in his career he is often confused with the Canadian Jackie Washington who was a blues and jazz performer He can be seen currently starring in the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless The move from Puerta De Tierra section of San Juan Puerto Rico to the very New England town of Boston MA was motivated by his parents belief that better schools a better education and a better life would be available to young Juan Candido Washington y Landron So it was there that the actor Jack Landron began his episodic American journey He quickly became proficient in English With this proficiency came a love for the spoken word in its many forms His grandfathers thick Spanish accent the lilt of his Grandmothers West Indian speech pattern the Yiddish dialect of the nurturing old couple who lived next door all found a place in young Jacks talent for mimicry In later years this proved most helpful when doing voiceover work After a lack luster college years Emerson in Boston for which he paid with earnings from his successful folk singing career Club 47 in Cambridge was his start Jackie Washington went to Mississippi in the spring of 1964 Here he became a founding member of the renowned Free Southern Theatre One night while performing he attracted the attention of the Rev Martin Luther King This resulted in a memorable time as a personal assistant to the revered Civil Rights icon After leaving Mississippi he went to NYC and got deeply involved in TV Theatre He appeared in the NBC childrens series First Look which required him to join AFTRA He discovered that a Jackie Washington already existed in AFTRA so he used his other name Jack Landron He was then cast in the TV premiere of 10 Blocks on the Camino Real Tennessee Williams which featured the legendary actress Lotte Lenya with whom Jack formed a warm and lasting friendship Acting jobs at the famed Negro Ensemble Theatre the Puerto Rican traveling theatre AMAS Repertory Theatre and the NY Shakespeare Festival among others poured in for Jack Marriage and Parenthoodand eventual single Parenthood made it necessary to secure daytime employment which led Jack to a long career of commercials Industrials and voiceover work In 2012 with the children grown Jack shifted his base of operation to Los Angeles where work in independent films coincided with a renewed career as a singersongwriter marked by the release of a CD entitled Curbside Cotillion