James Denton

Early life

Denton was born January 20, 1963, in Nashville, Tennessee, and grew up in nearby Goodlettsville, the second of three children. His father, J.T. Denton (1930–1993), was a dentist who had served in the military. His mother, Mary Jean Woolslair Denton, died from breast cancer in 2002.

Denton was raised Southern Baptist and became a Minister of Music at Westmoreland United Methodist Church in Westmoreland, Tennessee.

Denton graduated from Goodlettsville High School, and attended the University of Tennessee, where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He majored in television/Journalism, and earned a degree in Advertising. Before becoming an actor, he sold advertising for two radio stations. He began acting at the age of 23, at a community theater in Nashville. He eventually moved to California to become a full-time actor. He was, for a time, credited as Jamie Denton, in the film, That Old Feeling.

Career

While living in Chicago, Denton's first role was as "Stanley" in "A Streetcar Named Desire", and his last role was as the terrorist "Bebert" in the French farce, "Lapin Lapin". In the years that came between the two roles, Denton was a company member at The Griffin Theater and at Strawdog Theater Ensemble. He added a steady string of roles and accolades to his quickly growing list of achievements, including one of the leads in the world premiere of "Flesh and Blood", performing in and composing the music for "the Night Hank Williams Died", and his portrayal of Kentucky preacher "C.C. Showers" in "The Diviners" - which gained him a nomination for a Best Actor "Joseph Jefferson Award" (Chicago's only theater award).

After moving to Los Angeles, Denton continued to perform on stage, usually during hiatus from whichever TV series to which he was attached at the time, and many of the plays, as well as the independent movies in which Denton has appeared, have been written by his friend, Mike Petty. For example, "In Walked Monk", in which Denton played the role of "Steven" during the summer of 1999 and Locked Up Down Shorty's", in which he played the role of "Danny", during the summer of 2001.

Denton has appeared in several films, including: That Old Feeling (1997), Face/Off (1997), and Primary Colors (1998).

He has appeared in various television shows, including: Sliders, Dark Skies, Two Guys and a Girl, Ally McBeal, The West Wing, and JAG, and has had recurring roles in The Pretender, Philly, The Drew Carey Show and Reba. In 2003, he had the lead role of Special Agent John Kilmer in the short-lived crime thriller series, Threat Matrix. In 2004, Denton won Mike Delfino on the series, Desperate Housewives.

Since first appearing in Desperate Housewives, Denton has continued to act in various made-for-TV and direct-to-DVD movies, including: Assumption (2006), Beautiful Dreamer (2006), Undead or Alive (2007), Custody (2007), Tortured (2008) and All-Star Superman (2011). In 2009, Denton appeared in country star Phil Vassar's music video "Bobbi with an I".

Denton plays guitar in the charity band Band from TV along with Hugh Laurie and ex-Desperate Housewives co-star Teri Hatcher, among others. Denton modeled for Daniel Hechter's 2012 Spring-Summer advertising campaign.

Denton portrays Dr. Sam Radford, a starring role on the Good Witch, and has a recurring on Devious Maids as Peter Hudson.

Personal life

In high school, Denton dated country music artist Deana Carter. He has been married twice. He was married to Jenna Lyn Ward from 1997 to 2000. On December 16, 2002, he married Erin O'Brien, a personal trainer at Life Time Fitness. They have two children: a son born in 2003 and a daughter born in 2005. They had a house in Glendale, California. After Desperate Housewives ended, the family moved to Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Denton is part-owner of independent minor league baseball team the Orange County Flyers (part of the Golden Baseball League), who won the GBL Championship in 2008. The Orange County Flyers play at California State University, Fullerton in Fullerton, California.