Actor Matthew Ashford, best known for his role as Jack Deveraux on the soap opera Days of our Lives, is celebrating his 64th birthday today. Ashford was born on January 29, 1960, in Davenport, Iowa. After graduating from the North Carolina School of the Arts, he moved to New York City and found immediate employment on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live. In 1984, he joined NBC's Search for Tomorrow and played the character Cagney McCleary until the show ended in 1986. Ashford then joined the cast of Days of our Lives in 1987, where he gained recognition for his onscreen pairing with Melissa Reeves.

The couple won a Soap Opera Award for Favorite Supercouple. Ashford left the show in 1993 but returned to television in 1995 on ABC's General Hospital. He has also appeared in various other roles, including in the film Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss and the TV series Charmed. Outside of acting, Ashford is the spokesperson for the Retinoblastoma International Foundation and a partner in a production company called NGM Productions.