Who is Jay Kenneth Johnson?
Jay Kenneth Johnson was born in Springfield, Missouri USA, on 24 February 1977 – his zodiac sign is Pisces, and he holds American nationality. He’s an actor with 15 credits to his name, while he’s perhaps still known best for his portrayal of Philip Kiriakis, one of the main characters in the long-running romantic drama series “Days of Our Lives”. It was created by Irna Phillips, Allan Chase and Ted Corday, also stars Deidre Hall, Frances Reid and Kristian Alfonso, and follows the people living in the fictional town Salem.
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It has been airing since 1965, while Jay has been a member of the cast since 1999; the series numbers over 14,200 episodes (Jay has appeared in more than 1,700), and has won 231 of the 742 awards for which it has been nominated, including four Primetime Emmy nominations.
“Days of Our Lives” is also the first series in which Jay appeared.
Early life and education
Jay was raised alongside his siblings Jenna and Jeff in Springfield, by their parents Ken and Janice Johnson; not a lot is known about his family, as Jay respects their privacy.
He was interested in sports while attending a local elementary school, and dreamed of going professional.
It was after he enrolled at Kickapoo High School that he became interested in acting, and started appearing in plays performed at the school, mostly portraying lead characters.
Jay was urged by his parents to focus on his education, and thus upon matriculating in 1995, he enrolled at Missouri State University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1999; Jay then moved to Los Angeles in California, to focus on acting.
Roles in TV series
In 1999, Jay appeared in an episode of the soap opera “The Young and the Restless”, which is similar to “Days of Our Lives” in terms of its number of episodes; it has been airing since 1973, and numbers over 12,200 episodes.
The following years saw Jay appear in an episode of a couple of series, including the romantic musical comedy “S Club 7 in Miami”, and the romantic comedy drama “The O. C.” In 2004 and 2005, he starred as Chris Remsen, in the romantic drama “North Shore”, created by Peter Elkoff, and which also starred Kristoffer Polaha and Brooke Burns. It follows Jason Matthews, who’s working as the assistant manager of the exclusive Hawaiian Grand Waimea Hotel, while his former girlfriend, Nicole Booth has now become its new director of guest relations. A couple of Jay’s following appearances were in an episode of the action crime drama “CSI: New York”, the fantasy mystery drama “Charmed”, and the mystery crime drama “CSI: Miami”.
Between 2006 and 2009, he played the recurring character Dr. Matthews in seven episodes of the critically acclaimed comedy drama “Scrubs”, created by Bill Lawrence, and which starred Zach Braff, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke. It follows John Dorian’s internship at Sacred Heart Hospital, and the series won 35 awards, including two Primetime Emmys, while it was nominated for 135 other awards.
Two of Jay’s most recent TV series roles have been in the 2011 episode “The Settlement” of the romantic comedy “Melissa & Joey”, and eight episodes of the romantic mini-series “Days of Our Lives’ Last Blast Reunion” in 2020.
Roles in movies
Jay has appeared in only four movies, making his debut appearance in the 2003 romantic drama “Hotel”.
In 2007, he portrayed the main character Johnny in the horror comedy “Hack!”, written and directed by Matt Flynn, and which also starred Danica McKellar and Juliet Landau; it follows a group of college students who have embarked on a field trip to study wildlife. In 2012, Jay played Chip, in the popular romantic mystery “Undercover Bridesmaid”, and his only other film role has been his portrayal of Gabe, in the 2015 romantic family drama “Runaway Hearts”.
Other credits
Jay has been featured in a couple of TV specials, such as “The 28th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards” in 2001, “Days of Our Lives’ Christmas” in 2001 as well, and “The 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards” in 2009.
He has made a guest appearance in several talk-shows, including in an episode of “Entertainment Tonight” in 2009.
Love life and wife
Jay’s highly secretive when it comes to his love life, and there’s only a single woman whom he has dated, that the public knows about.
Back in 2007, he started dating Shelley Hennig, an American actress, model and social media star, who was crowned Miss Teen USA in 2004, and gained recognition with her portrayal of Stephanie Johnson, in “Days of Our Lives”, which was also how she and Jay met; she was a member of the cast from 2007 to 2017.
There were rumors circulating the internet in 2011, claiming that Jay and Shelley were planning to marry, however, neither had commented on this, and they split in the following year, for unknown reasons.
It’s believed by many that the reason was one of them wanting to start a family, while the other wanted to focus on building a career.
As of September 2021, Jay seems to be single, hasn’t married, and doesn’t have children.
Hobbies and other interests
Jay’s passionate about music, and is today the lead vocalist and songwriter of the funk rock fusion band Solid Jones; the other members are Kevin Houston, Dave Green, Rick Steff, ‘Dirty’ Dave Harp and Bryan Powers.
He loves to go fishing, and his Instagram account is filled with pictures of the fish which he has caught; Jay’s also into gardening, and has uploaded many pictures featuring his garden.
He enjoys travelling, and his acting career has taken him to various US states, as well as to a couple of European and South American countries; Jay’s dream travel destination is Miami in Florida.
He has his own favorite actors and actresses, some of whom are Bruce Willis, Angelina Jolie and Jessica Alba, and a couple of his favorite movies include “Pulp Fiction”, “Mr. and Mrs Smith” and “Wanted”.
Age, height and net worth
Jay’s age is 44. He has short brown hair and blue eyes, his height is 6ft (1.83m) and he weighs around 172lbs (78kgs).
As of September 2021, his net worth has been estimated at over $4 million.
