Kerr
Smith was born Kerr Van Cleve Smith on March 9, 1972 in Exton, Pennsylvania. He is a self-taught piano player and a Business Administration graduate from the University of Vermont. He came to fame as Jack McPhee on
Dawson's Creek , where he broke television ground by playing a closet homosexual who eventually came clean about his sexuality and went on to tackle complex issues that came with it. His onscreen kiss with Adam Kaufman in the episode, “True Love,” was the first ever gay-male kiss on primetime television. Beyond Dawson's Creek, Smith also appeared on the cult series,
Charmed and starred in two other shows, E-Ring with Benjamin Bratt and Dennis Hopper and
Justice with Victor Garber.
Jack McPhee, played by Kerr Smith on Dawson's Creek, was a closet gay who eventually came to terms with his homosexuality. He endured the difficulties that came with admitting his sexual preference and struggled with alcoholism to emerge as a responsible and mature young man his friends could rely on.
(Photo courtesy of Fred Norris)