TV
Everybody Hates Chris (CW)
The Wire (HBO)

Film
The Mannsfield 12 (Ross)

Contact: vision22@aol.com

Melvin was born in Washington, DC on April 4th. At a young age, he moved overseas to Islamabad, Pakistan for four and a half years and performed in many talent shows as a rap artist & dancer. Melvin also lived in Ankara, Turkey for four years where he performed in the school band. He also ran cross-country, won a bronze medal in wrestling and two gold medals in 1500M and 3000M in track-n-field. While attending Fairmont Heights High School Melvin started writing poetry and songs, which later he put together in a poetry book called “The Feelings We Have Inside”.
In Melvin’s first year in college, he began to manage music artists. Shortly thereafter, he started modeling in the local area and was discovered by a modeling management company. He was later asked to audition for an acting job, which he secured and then fell in love with acting. He graduated Bowie State University with a Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts.

Melvin has written two screenplays “When the Shoe’s on the Other Foot” and “The Game Done Changed” and is currently working on his third “The Game of Life”. Melvin is currently producing 4 films “Tough Like Wearing Dreadlocks” with co-producer Ayanna Mcharry, “Tobacco Valley” with Iona Mogul & Jamal Northington, “Around My Way” & Parrallel Lives with Wayne Byrd . His reality show “My Way” is in development as well as other shows.

Television
1 Recurrs on CW's “Everybody Hates Chris” as The Bully
2 Melvin appears as “Bernard”, a recurring role on HBO’s “The Wire”
3 BET Access Granted (2 times) for videos with Tony Yayo (June 2005) and Mack 10 (September 8th, 2005)
4 BET 106 & Park (April 7th, 2005)
5 Also appeared on Hack, America’s Most Wanted, and Street Lawyers

Films
• Blue w/Keith David, Charles Malik Whitfield, Michael Ralph, Don Wallace & others
• Five K One w/ Clifton Powell & AJ Johnson
• Co-starred in movie “Mannsfield 12” w/ Joe Torry, Sean Nelson, & Michael McCary from Boyz II Men directed by Craig Ross (www.mannsfield12.com) won 2ABFF film Awards
• Co-starred in “After Autumn” w/ Lil Zane (nominated for 3 ABFF awards)
• “The Strip” trailer on www.thestripmovie.com
• Disney Movie "Step Up" with R&B singer Mario, Heavy D and Channing Tanner.
• Featured as an interviewer in documentary called "The Vanishing Black Male" which can be purchased at http://vanishing.indie-dvd.net
• House Arrest w/ Willie Macc from BET’s “College Hill”


Photo courtesy of HBO
“We do not live in fairytale world,” says Melvin Jackson Jr., center, who plays Bernard on The Wire. “If you tell me I can’t do something, I’m going to do it anyway, ’cause that’s just how you’ve got to be.”
Events
1 Presenter at the 2005 Vibe Awards
2 Poetry Exhibition Host at the 2005 Annual National Black History Month Film & Discussion Series in Baltimore at the Maryland Institute College of Arts on February 5, 2005
3 Presenter at the Black Reel Awards Gala which was held at the French Embassy in Washington, DC at the end of February 2005
4 Guest host at the Celebrity Spades Tournament presented by PMI and Bad Boy Entertainment in New York City on April 6th, 2005 and in LA on September 12th, 2005
5 Guest at Ray Lewis’s (Baltimore Ravens) Celebrity Weekend in Baltimore May 2005 & June 2006
NAACP IMAGE AWARDS


Press
1 The Ave Magazine-Winter 2006
2 Da Book-Winter 2006
3 Street Magazine-Oct/Nov 2005
4 Velvet Addiction.com – June 2005 http://www.velvetaddiction.com/celeb.htm
5 Trend Setter Magazine – May 2005
6 Bay Weekly.com – Week of February 24 – March 2, 2005
http://www.bayweekly.com/year05/issuexiii8/leadxiii8.html
Excerpts from article entitled Making Black History: True Tales from the Hood
by Sandra Olivetti Martin

...“We do not live in a fairytale world,” explains another Wire actor, Melvin Jackson Jr., who plays Bernard. …For Melvin Jackson, it’s…self-confidence that keeps work coming. “It’s all about determination,” says the former model.“You’ve got to have it inside you. You’ve got to really want something,” Jackson says. “I’m the type of person if you tell me I can’t do something, I’m going to do it anyway, ’cause that’s just how you’ve got to be.”

2008 and Beyond
1 Co-Starring in Parellel Lives
2 Starring in Movies “Around My Way,” “Work It Out”
3 Co-starring in “Tobacco Valley,” “Tough Like Wearing Dreadlocks”
4 Melvin has appeared in ads for Kaufman Furs, True Life Clothing and Universal Madness Clothing
5 Pitching a sitcom called “Just The Fellas” and others to major TV Networks