Merrell Jackson (April 26, 1952 – February 23, 1991) was an actor who played one of the apostles in the film ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical composed by Stephen Schwartz with book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hym ...

'' (1973). He sang "All Good Gifts".

Life

Jackson graduated from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

's Calumet High School in 1971, where he was a soloist for the a cappella chorus, and had leading roles in two stage productions for which he won the "best actor" award. During his senior year he played King Melchior in a school production of the Christmas opera '' Amahl and the Night Visitors'' that was shown on local television TV 26, and was an understudy in the Chicago production of the rock musical ''

The Me Nobody Knows ''The Me Nobody Knows'' is a musical with music by Gary William Friedman and lyrics by Will Holt. It debuted off-Broadway in 1970 and then transferred to Broadway, making it one of the earliest rock musicals to play on Broadway, and the first ...

''. He also sang in the All-City High School Chorus. In the summer of 1971 he was awarded a scholarship to go to the National Youth Chorus Workshop at Wolf Trap American University Academy for the Performing Arts in

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, and was one of 25 selected performing arts students who appeared with Lloyd Haynes on the

WMAQ-TV WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo outlet WSNS-TV (c ...

musical special ''The New Performers: Chicagoland '71''. His fellow performers voted him "Best Trouper" among the supporting cast members for which he won a $500 scholarship. He joined the

Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the la ...

's touring company later in 1971, appearing in the children's musical comedy ''The Magic Isle''. He auditioned for the Chicago production of ''Godspell'' in May 1972, but was cast in the movie instead, filming in New York from August to November, 1972. He joined the Chicago production in November, but was called back to New York for additional location shots and then continued in the cast until the show's run ended in August 1973. Jackson then joined

Nell Carter Nell Carter (born Nell Ruth Hardy; September 13, 1948 – January 23, 2003) was an American singer and actress. Carter began her career in 1970, singing in the theater, and later crossed over to television. She was best known for her role as Ne ...

in the Chicago cast of the musical ''

Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope ''Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope'' is a musical revue first staged in 1971 with music, lyrics and book by Micki Grant. It was originally produced by Edward Padula. Background and productions The all-singing, all-dancing show focuses on the Afric ...

''. He was with the national touring company in Baltimore a year later. While living in New York City, Jackson performed with dance companies, appeared in Broadway musicals, and did commercial spots for

7 Up 7 Up (stylized as 7up outside North America) is an American brand of lemon-lime-flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo. 7 Up co ...

soft drink. He was also a painter."Services Held for Singer Jackson," ''Chicago Defender'', February 27, 1991, p. 5. Has a child named David Clayton Jackson.

References

External links

A tribute site for Merrell Jackson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Merrell 1952 births 1991 deaths African-American male actors American male film actors American male musical theatre actors Male actors from Illinois Singers from Chicago 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century African-American male singers