Jack Devereaux – Days of Our Lives
Jack Devereaux is a prominent character on the NBC daytime serial, Days of Our Lives. The character was actually born William Earl Johnson, but was adopted by Harper Devereaux and renamed Jack Harcourt Devereaux. The character is best remembered played by Matthew Ashford, who on September 23, 2011, returned to “Salem” to reconnect with his family, wife Jennifer Devereaux (Melissa Reeves) and his two children, Abigail (Kate Mansi) and JJ (Casey Moss).
Although the return was short when the show let Ashford go in April 2012. Ashford last aired on August 15, 2012.
Casting
The role of Jack Devereaux has been played by several actors:
Joseph Adams—April 10, 1987 – July `17, 1987
James Acheson—July 21, 1987 – October 26, 1987
Matthew Ashford—October 30, 1987 – October 12, 1993, February 5, 2001 – September 21, 2006, (Guest appearance: April 2-4, 2007, September 23, 2011 – August 15, 2012 (between October 2003 and June 2004, Ashford took a brief absence from DOOL to appear on the ABC drama, One Life to Live)
During Ashford's absence: Mark Valley—October 28, 1994 – September 26, 1997 (earned an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor) and Steve Wilder—September 26, 1997 – June 5, 1998
Characterization
Jack Devereaux has been known to be charming, manipulative, clever, heroic, selfish, arrogant, as well as self-loathing. Devereaux is popularly one-half of the super-couple with Jennifer Rose Horton. Originally brought on as a villain to test super-couple Steve Johnson (Stephen Nichols) and Kayla Brady (Mary Beth Evans), the character eventually became a respected core character through his undying devotion and love to Jennifer Horton.
Storylines
Background
Jack Devereaux was reared in Washington D.C. By Senator Harper Devereaux (Joseph Campanello) and his second wife, Angelica Devereaux (Jane Eliot). Having attended various private schools, most notably being expelled, Jack Devereaux eventually graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University hoping to study law and become a politician like his father. Jack has an astronomical IQ as well as left-handed, claustrophobic, and although described as being an adept surfer, is not a strong swimmer.
Having a dark history of family rape by his father (Duke Johnson raped Jack's sister, Adrienne Johnson Kirakis (Judi Evans) and father-in-law (Bill Horton), Jack has also committed the act as well with ex-wife Kayla Brady) and his wife Jennifer has also been raped by Lawrence Alamain (Michael Sabatino). Both Jack and his father-in-law were forgiven by their victims and his father-in-law eventually married his victim.
1980s
Jack arrived in Salem, diagnosed with Hodgekin's disease and later discovering that he was the brother to Steve Johnson and Adrienne Johnson through Jo Johnson and Duke Johnson who was dead when his sister, Adrienne shot and killed him after the rape.
Jack came to Salem looking for Kayla Brady with whom he fell in love in Hawaii a few years earlier, unaware that Steve and Kayla were in love. After Steve found out that Jack was his brother, Billy, he urged Kayla to marry Jack, to give him a will to live and fight the Hodgekin's disease. Feeling the sting of Steve's rejection, Kayla reluctantly married Jack, but was never able to consummate the marriage due to her love for Steve. Kayla became sick due to Harper poisoning her, and when Steve found out, he kidnapped Kayla. Jack angrily confronted Steve suspecting Steve had kidnapped his wife or that Kayla had runaway to be with Steve and Steve's theory that Jack was poisoning Kayla made it impossible for Jack and Steve to reach a compromise.
When Steve eventually confessed that Jack was his brother, Kayla wanted to divorce Jack, but both Steve and Jo persuaded Kayla not to leave Jack until after the election. But unable to deny their feelings for each other, Steve and Kayla started an affair, which Kayla had managed to keep Jack at arms length, citing being tired from being sick.
As Jack hoped that he and Kayla would be together on New Year's Eve, Kayla managed to find time to be with Steve, who was wearing the dress that Jack gave her. Unbeknowst to them, Canby, a reporter was snapping photos.
After Jack won the election two weeks later, the Canby confronted Jack with the photos of Steve and Kayla. When Jack angrily confronted his wife about the photos, Kayla could not deny that the photos were her and Steve. It was then that a betrayed Jack raped Kayla, claiming that he was taking what was “rightfully his.”
Guilt-ridden about the rape, Jack directed his anger at Steve and Kayla and refused to let Kayla out of the divorce, even going so far as to have Steve beat up. After a fight with Steve on the rooftop, Jack fell and damaged his kidneys, where as luck would have it, Steve was a perfect match. Intending to reject the donation, Dr. Mike Horton (Michael T. Weiss) managed to convince to have the transplant. Still angry at Steve and Kayla, he began harassing them. Kayla eventually had Jack charged with rape where he pleaded guilty, but claimed he was being railroaded.
Jack agreed to help Adrienne to find her long-lost brother, Billy with the intention of hurting Steve. It turned out that Jo had placed Billy and Steve in an orphanage to protect them from Duke, where Billy had been adopted, but Steve remained at the orphanage.
Jack discovered he was the long-lost Billy when he found a baby picture of himself when he broke into Steve's apartment. Jack also learned that his adopted father was revealed to be the “The Riverfront Knifer” killing prostitutes because they reminded them of Kayla.
Due to Jack's constant harassment and what Harper had did, Kayla become hysterically deaf/mute. Feeling genuinely sad for her, Jack granted a divorce to Kayla, where she finally married Steve. To cover for his loss, Jack became involved with Mickey and Maggie Horton's adopted daughter, Melissa Anderson, who was so in love with him, she couldn't see through his faults. Melissa agreed to marry Jack, but left him at the altar and left town when she realized he had been cheating on her and using her to clean up his political career.
Not yet able to let go of his hatred for Steve and the other Johnsons for giving him up for adoption, Jack continued to harass Steve and Kayla, albeit not as harmless as before.
After Jack stopped harassing Steve and Kayla, he slowly began to transform into a better man like his brother, Steve. However, he struggled with the resentment of Salem citizens to give him a second chance.
1990s
Finally able to forgive the Johnsons, Jack bought a controlling interest in The Salem Spectator to stop Diana Colville (Genie Francis) from exposing his corruption of dumping toxic chemicals into a river in Salem, where he discovered a love for journalism.
Jack met Jennifer Horton when she began an internship at The Salem Spectator. Jennifer, being Melissa's cousin, was still wary of Jack, but they bonded when she tried to help a mother who was in jail, by becoming a foster mother to her baby. Clearly attracted to Miss Horton, Jack's relationship was stifled by Jennifer's budding friendship with Emilio Ramirez (Billy Hufsey) as he tried to sabotage the relationship. Not willing to return the romantic interest, their witty banter at work became a staple of their relationship.
Jack began to show change when he help Steve and Kayla when Steve's ex-wife, Marina (Hunter Tylo) and her sister Isabella (Staci Greason) showed up looking for a key.
It was then, that Jennifer realized that she was having strong feelings for Jack, despite what the citizens of Salem thought. Jack sensed they were getting closer, but pushed Jennifer away, claiming that she would only get hurt by working with him. By this time, Melissa had returned to Salem and tried to discourage Jennifer's involvement with Jack by encouraging her to date Emilio.
Jack and Steve's brotherly bond was strengthened when he help him find Kayla, who had been kidnapped by Victor Kiriakis (John Aniston). Steve even asked Jack to be his best man at his second wedding to Kayla, but the wedding never happened as Kayla was arrested for Marina's murder, who by Jack's diligence to prove her innocence, was eventually found innocent.
Jennifer became of Jack's refusal to accept his feelings for her and accepted Emilio's proposal. But on Jennifer's wedding day to Emilio, Jack kidnapped the bride and whisked her to a remote cabin to convince her not to marry Emilio. However, Jack and Jennifer fell into a pit and were rescued by Emilio and Melissa, which seriously injured Emilio. Feeling guilty for Emilio's injuries, Jennifer to stay with Emilio.
Jack and Jennifer were one of the passengers on the infamous “Cruise of Deception” masterminded by Ernesto Toscano, who had in mind to blow up the ship with everyone on it. When the plan failed, everyone on board was stranded on a remote island, where Jack admitted his love for Jennifer and made love to a virginal Jennifer. But after finally returning to Salem, Jack/ plagued by the past, was still insecure about the idea of having a life with Jennifer.
Jack again pushed Jennifer away when he killed escaped convict, Harper Devereaux. Fed up with Jack's behavior, Jennifer got involved in Carly Manning's (a friend from boarding school), deception to pose as Lawrence Alamain's bride-to-be, Katerina Von Leuschner. When Jack heard of Jennifer's part in the deception, he tried to convince her not to do it fearing what Lawrence might do by promising not to abandon her again. Despite accepting Jack's promise, Jennifer went ahead with the deception plot.
Lawrence retaliated with revenge against Bo Brady (Peter Reckell) by having Steve killed. Breaking both Jack and Kayla's heart, Jack bonded a little with Kayla over Steve's death. But Jack had to leave and rescue Jennifer from Lawrence.
Lawrence blackmailed Jennifer into marriage by revealing that her friend, Frankie Brady (Billy Warlock) was his prisoner. Confessing that he knew she wasn't Katerina, Lawrence wanted the VL fortune. Jack failed to meet Jennifer on the day of the wedding due to being imprisoned. When Lawrence showed up instead, things got out of control resulting in Lawrence raping Jennifer. Afraid to tell Jack about the rape due to Jack's history, Jennifer insisted on making the most of her marriage to Lawrence. Help did come from Shane Donovan (Charles Shaugnessy), Bo, Kayla, and Julie (Susan Seaforth Hayes) to get proof of Steve's death and rescue Jen and her grandmother, Alice (Francis Reid) from Lawrence. After everyone convinced Jen who she was and who she loved, Jen came back to Salem with them.
Traumatized by the rape, Jennifer refused to be intimate with Jack. Jack took this as a sign that she was still love with Frankie. Things got complicated when Jennifer decided to have Frankie as a roommate after deciding not to live with Jack. Finally proposing marriage in a grandiose and romantic way, Jennifer said yes, but not at the moment. Jennifer finally accepting Jack's proposal of marriage when Jack came dressed as Santa.
Jennifer's terror intensified when Lawrence came to Salem seeking revenge on those who double-crossed him. Trying to help Jennifer, Jack brought Jennifer to the cabin to be alone. When Jack tried to kiss Jennifer, she broke free of him and slapped him, calling him a rapist. Jack stung by her words, Jennifer's apology fell on deaf ears.
A disenheartened Jack broke up with Jennifer and married Eve Donovan (Charlotte Ross) so he could get inheritance money to save The Salem Spectator, which Lawrence was trying to take hold off. When Jennifer finally told Jack about the rape, Jack wanted to flee figuring that he was the last one Jennifer needed, but Jennifer convinced Jack that she needed and he supported her as she pressed charges of rape against Lawrence.
Jack and Jennifer conceived their first child on Days of Our Lives primetime special “One Storny Night.” Abigail Johanna Devereaux was born in October 1992. During Abigail's infancy, she was diagnosed with aplastic anemia due to exposure to the river dumping by Jack's company. Abigail eventually recovered, but feelings of guilt drove Jack out of town in 1993, fearing his family would be better off without him.
After leaving Jennifer and Abby, Jack suffers a nervous breakdown and has himself committed to The Meadows, a sanetarium where patients are convinced to leave the past behind and take assumed names in the name of healing. While at the clinic, Jack becomes involved with an older woman and the two begin sleeping together, to forget their troubles. Feeling he has recovered, Jack returns to Salem in 1994 to prove he can be the husband Jennifer deserves.
But Jack's return is complicated when he finds that Jennifer has moved on with Peter Blake, who marry shortly after Jack's return. As if Jack didn't have enough problems, he discovers that the woman he slept with at the clinic is none other than Jennifer's mother, Laura Horton, with whom Jack had never met before. Stung by the relevation that Jack slept with her mother, Jennifer seeks solace in Peter's arms. But Jack senses all is not right with Jennifer's new husband and sets out to prove it, despite Jennifer's claims that it is just another one of Jack's pathetic schemes. But Peter proves Jack right when he kidnaps Jennifer and Abby, which Jack heroically rescues. Jennifer divorces Peter when he is sent to prison leaving Jack, Jennifer, and Abby to leave for Africa where Jennifer's father, Bill Horton works as a doctor volunteering in 1998.
2000s
While in Africa, Jack lost The Salem Spectator and his money and got himself in get-rich-quick schemes which Jennifer finds impractical and shady. These schemes would cause Jack to leave on a sudden's notice, sometimes not even informing Jennifer. Finally fed up, Jennifer and Abby pack up and leaves Jack, heading to Ireland and then finally to Salem.
Jack gets word from Alice that Jennifer will be in Paris at the coronation of Princess Greta Von Amburg. In Italy at the time, Jacks arrives at the coronation before and ambushes Jennifer at the coronation. As the two have it out, Jack expresses anger at Jennifer leaving with Abby without so much as word.
Jack and Jennifer arrive back in Salem and attempt to solve a custody agreement over Abby. Jack convinces Jennifer that the three of them should live together but they end up verbally sparring. Jack once again proves his love for Jennifer when he saves her when Jennifer's car goes over a bridge. Jennifer starts to believe that Jack could be the man that she's loved.
Up to his old tricks, Jack begins using Princess Greta Von Amburg to make Jennifer jealous, which Jennifer sees through. Thinking that his plan is working, Jennifer begins dating Brandon Walker (Matt Cedeno). Things become complicated when Greta develops real feelings for Jack. Jack attempts to let Greta down gently, but sensing she is being dumped, starts crying. To spare Greta's feelings, Jack lies and tells Greta he is gay. Jennifer realizes the truth after months of Jack trying to make Jennifer think he and Greta are involved and Greta thinking he is gay. Jennifer tries to trap Jack in his lie by planning a seduction in the shower. Things don't go as expected when Jennifer finds herself unable to resist him and Jack stops the seduction before they have sex claiming Jennifer was drunk and he didn't want to take advantage of her which leaves Jennifer confused.
Outraged by the realization that Jack is straight, Greta leaves town, leaving Jack free to pursue Jennifer. But to his chagrin, Jennifer begins dating Colin Murphy, whom she met in Africa and was supposed to meet in Ireland. Jennifer concludes that Colin is a conman and realizes that she is indeed still in love with Jack. In an attempt to help Bo gain evidence that Colin involved with the DiMeras, Jennifer keeps the ruse up that they are dating, against Jack's wishes. Learning that Jennifer and Jack are back together, Colin seeks revenge on Jack. Overhearing that Colin attempted to murder Jack, Jennifer tries to distract Colin, but ends up sleeping with him. After Colin smugly tells Jack what happened, Jennifer is forced to tell Jack the truth. When Colin is murdered days later, both Jack and Jennifer suspect each other, but both are proven innocent, and they remearry in May 2003.
When Jack starts working with Abe in October 2003, both men become victims of The Salem Stalker (Marlena Evans [Diedre Hall]). Jennifer is given the daunting decision of disconnecting life support from a brain-dead Jack. But soon after, Jennifer finds out she is pregnant with their second child.
May 2004, Jack and all the victims of Marlena Evans are found on an island, Melaswen (New Salem backwards) where Andre DiMera faked their murders. When Jennifer gets word, she heads for Melaswen, where she gives birth to a son and names him JJ (Jack, Jr.). After everyone escapes Andre's clutches on the island, Jack is once again presumed dead. But he and others including Cassie Brady are being held in a castle in Europe. Leading an escape in April 2005, Jack and Jennifer are reunited with an injured Abigail and Jack is able to get to know his son, JJ.
In 2005, Jack learns he is dying of a rare blood disease, but instead of trying to find a cure and fight the disease, he sets Jennifer up with old flame, Frankie Brady as a way to keep Jennifer from Patrick Lockhart. Then Jack is once again presumed dead from a car accident, but Jack has staged his death to prevent his loved ones from having to watch him die.
Jack instead shows up in a clinic in Cincinnati, with no intention on coming back to Salem. Jennifer agrees to marry Frankie to the chagrin of her daughter Abigail, who doesn't buy that her father is dead. Things don't go as Jack planned when his hospice workers turns out to be none other than his not-so-dead brother, Steve Johnson, who has no memory and living in Cincinnati as “Nick Stockton.” Not so keen on Jack's claim that they are brothers, a DNA test proves they are indeed brothers. Jack tries to get Steve to go back to Salem, speaking so highly of Kayla, Steve assumes Jack is Kayla's husband. Nick reluctantly agrees only if Jack goes back too. Jack agrees only to say good bye to his family and to make amends with the ex-wife he wronged so long ago.
Steve and Jack return to Salem in the Spring 2006 during Jennifer and Frankie's wedding ceremony. Jennifer has mixed feelings about Jack's return, reeling from the relevation of letting her believe he was dead when he wasn't. Jennifer has a hard time leaving Frankie, even with Jack's health deteriorating. To Jennifer, Frankie represents security and steadiness, something Jack has never been able to to give her. Once again, Jennifer has doubts of a future with Jack.
Frankie discovers a drug that cures Jack and the trio are caught up in a triangle. But Jack and Jennifer are kidnapped when Jack investigates the murder of a cop. They manage to escape their captors, but get lost in the woods. After Jennifer vents her anger out at Jack, they make love and the couple are seemingly back together again. When Jennifer confides in Frankie that she cares for him but doesn't love him, a saddened Frankie leaves Salem.
Jack and Jennifer are offered jobs in London and decide to leave with Abigail and JJ with the support of family and friends. However, Abigail stays behind not wanting to leave her school and friends.
2010s
Jennifer returns to Salem November 2010, sans Jack. She explains to family and friends he has left to “find himself.” When Jack's blog is updated continually with no mention of family, Jennifer files for divorce.
But a disheveled Jack returns in September 2011 with the hope of reconnecting with his family. But Jennifer has moved on with Dr. Daniel Jonas (Shawn Christian). Jack's return doesn't sit well with Jennifer and Abigail either. After a talk with his sister, Adrienne, Jack tells Jennifer about his absence—he was investigating the opium trade in Afghanistan and was held hostage for asking the wrong question for months. Jennifer eventually believed him and the two reunited, despite Abigail's protests not to give Jack another chance. Sadly, Jack died in August 2012 when Jack was trapped inside an elevator that crashed during a celebration at Horton Square as Jack heroically saved his daughter, Abigail.
Reference
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