Matthew Ashford

Ashford is in a relationship with Lana Buss and together they have two children — a son, Henry, born in May 2013, and a daughter, Willa, born in December 2015. Ashford and Buss were married on November 27, 2016.

In 2012, Ashford was recruited by the Outside the Box Musical Theatre Company for a new musical based on a Clint Eastwood movie. 2017 Ashford play in Romane Antoine Simon Horror film Blood Runs Thick alone side his co soap star Judi Evans And legendary actor Tom Sizemore the play Directed by Romane Simon

Since 2011, Ashford has starred on the soap opera web series The Bay as Steve Jenson, opposite his former Days of Our Lives co-star, Mary Beth Evans.

From February to June 2010, he played Bill in the North American tour of Mamma Mia!. The final performances were cut short due to security concerns with the G20 Summit in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The summit location was two blocks away from the theatre.

In May 2010, while on tour in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, he obtained US/Canada dual citizenship. Ashford's father was born in Canada, therefore making him and his siblings eligible to become Canadians without relinquishing their American citizenship.

Ashford also appeared with Scott Bakula in a production of No Strings in May 2007. Later that year he auditioned with Haysha Deitsch, who later got the role for The Return of Jezebel James.

He returned to the show in 2004, but had spent much of his time since on the back burner, and was off-screen for large portions of 2005 and 2006. In July 2006, it was announced that Ashford, a fan favorite, had again been let go from the Days of Our Lives cast roster, a story confirmed in the July 25, 2006 edition of industry magazine Soap Opera Digest. Ashford's last day on Days of our Lives was on September 21, 2006. Jack and Jennifer bid Salem farewell as they headed off, young son in tow, to live and work in London. Ashford made a brief appearance as Jack in April 2007, and in September 2011 returned to the show on a full-time basis, only to be fired again in April 2012. Jack dies in an elevator crash, after saving his daughter Abigail, who was trapped. As Abigail gets out and goes to her mother, Jennifer and Abigail's boyfriend, Cameron, try to save Jack, but the elevator doors close and the cords break causing the elevator to crash to the ground and kill Jack.

He is best known for playing Jack Deveraux on the NBC soap opera, Days of Our Lives. Ashford has had several stints playing Jack, a conflicted character who descended into darkness after raping the woman who married him in order to give him reason to fight his illness. After a lengthy struggle with his guilt over his dark deeds, Jack finally was able to get back on track and allow himself to love his soulmate Jennifer who pursued him relentlessly. Ashford's pairing with Melissa Reeves' Jennifer was wildly popular (winning the 7th Soap Opera Digest award for favorite super couple) and the couple is considered a supercouple, by soap opera standards. Jack also became integrated into his biological family. Ashford's initial run was from 1987 to 1993. He returned from 2001 to 2003, but was written off as part of a controversial storyline where nearly a dozen residents of the fictional town of Salem appeared to have been murdered. (The complex plot had them alive and held hostage in another country.)

Ashford married singer-actress Christina Saffran Ashford on June 6, 1987 but they have since divorced. They have two daughters, Grace and Emma (born in 1997). In 1997, four-month-old Emma was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood eye cancer, Retinoblastoma. The disease was treated with surgeries to remove the malignant tumors in her eyes and chemotherapy. When she was five, tumors recurred in Emma's left eye, and it was removed and replaced with a prosthetic. Ashford has been instrumental in raising funds and awareness for this disease. He is the spokesperson for the Retinoblastoma International Foundation.

After graduation, Ashford moved to New York City, where he was cast as Drew Ralston on One Life to Live, a role he played from 1982 to 1983. He also appeared on Search for Tomorrow as Cagney McCleary from 1984 to 1986, as Tom Hardy on General Hospital from 1995 to 1997, and the serial killer Dr. Stephen Haver on One Life to Live from 2003 to 2004 and also played Roger in WB hit series Charmed.

Matthew Nile Ashford (born January 29, 1960) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles on the soap operas Days of Our Lives and The Bay, for the former of which he received a nomination for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2012.