Jack Deveraux and Jennifer Horton
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Jack Harcourt Deveraux and Jennifer Rose Horton Deveraux are among the most popular couples on NBC's soap opera Days of Our Lives, whose history spans since 1989 until 2006. The couple is considered, in soap opera terms, to be a supercouple. The two, in typical soap opera form, have been played by more than one actor/actress since their inception, but were originally, most recently and most famously played by Matthew Ashford and Melissa Reeves.
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[edit] Backstory
Jack Deveraux was the adopted son of Harper Deveraux. Harper was a U.S. Senator, and Jack was an aspiring politician, but it was revealed that Harper was a sociopathic killer. At one point, Jack was a suspect for the killings in town, and it seemed that his father was actually trying to frame him.
Unbeknownst to Jack, he was really Billy Johnson, Jo Johnson's son and Steve Johnson's baby brother. Jo had given up her boys for adoption when she feared that her abusive husband Duke would kill them. Young Steve Johnson watched helplessly as his baby brother Billy was adopted and taken from him.
Jack was raised in the lap of luxury, but he was not given a very compassionate upbringing. When he came to town, he tried to woo Kayla Brady and when Steve found out Jack was really his brother and that Jack was dying from Hodgkin's disease, he pushed Kayla away and encouraged her to marry dying Jack. Jack recovered, and Kayla was unable to consummate their marriage. Jack felt that Kayla just needed time to get to love him, and he tried to be patient. Kayla became sick when Harper began poisoning her, and Steve saved her life. Steve told Kayla why he had pushed her away and then the two began an affair, with plans to end her marriage to Jack after his election. Jack found out about the affair and was enraged by Kayla's constant rebuffs and promises that she would one day be ready. When he was rebuffed again, he showed her the pictures and then he raped her in a violent rage.
In the ensuing months, he descended full-time into his anger and let it shape and define him. Desperate to please his father (who was a sociopathic mysognist), Jack tried to be Harper's son and he worked hard at bringing down the people who had scorned him: Kayla and Steve. He tried to warn Steve away from his wife by having him beat up. Eventually Steve and Jack fought on the rooftop of the loft where Jack had lived with Kayla. Jack fell and almost died, but Steve gave his baby brother a kidney, saving the younger man's life.
Eventually Jack found out he was Steve's brother and he was angry and bitter. He gave Kayla a divorce but still maintained that he was provoked into his attack on her, and refused to call it rape. He plea-bargained to domestic assault when she took him to court, and continued to harass her whenever he saw her. He claimed he had been railroaded into that pleabargain.
Meanwhile, Melissa Anderson, his assistant and Jennifer Horton's cousin, was in love with him. He was encouraged by his step-mother Angelica to use Melissa's feelings for him to try to secure Harper's Senate seat, left empty by Harper's conviction for murder. The other candidate was Melissa's adoptive father, Mickey Horton, and Angelica felt that Melissa's support of Jack would lend strength to his campaign.
Melissa saw Jack making romantic plans with another woman on the day of their wedding and she left him at the altar. Jack's career aspirations as a politician were in shambles, and he spent a great deal of time and energy trying to destroy Mickey Horton's reputation, as well as that of Mickey's nephew and Jennifer's brother: Dr. Mike Horton. Having completely alienated his biological family as well as the Hortons and Bradys, Jack was mostly a social pariah.
[edit] Early History
Desperate to keep 'The Spectator' from printing an expose on his dirty dealings as a politician, Jack purchased a controlling share and changed his destiny. He abandoned his political goals and became a newspaperman. At first, Jack's involvement in the paper was purely intended to squelch the truth, but soon he became caught up in the actual business of reporting the truth.
Jennifer Horton was young and fairly inexperienced in the ways of life. Although she had had many puppy-love romances, Jennifer had yet to consummate them, waiting for the 'right guy'. Jennifer began a college internship for Jack as a cub-reporter. Her initial feelings towards Jack were unfavorable due to his treatment of Kayla and Melissa, but Jennifer soon learned that her boss had a different side to him.
Jennifer refused to let Jack make excuses for the terrible things he had done, and she called him on the carpet whenever he tried to use his newspaper to gratuitously hurt people he didn't care for. She also gently pushed him to try to get closer to his family.
Jennifer was dating Emilio Ramirez, a former gang member who had also had some negative dealings with Jack during the days when Jack was actively tormenting Steve and Kayla.
Jack started to develop feelings for Jennifer and started half-heartedly pursuing her while trying to throw monkey-wrenches into her relationship with Emilio, who he deemed to be a deadbeat and not good enough for her. Jennifer didn't seem to return those feelings at first, but began to see that Jack Deveraux wasn't someone she needed to fear and the two formed an odd friendship. Emilio left town after a skirmish involving Adrienne (Jack and Steve's younger sister) and her ex-husband Justin. Emilio, who had slept with Adrienne, had tampered with Justin's car, and although he wasn't sent to jail, Jennifer could not be with someone who would do something like that.
Jennifer wanted to foster a baby girl named Hannah after Hannah's mom was convicted of robbery and sent to jail for three years. Ironically, Hannah's mother had committed the crime so that she would have the shelter of prison when giving birth. Jack, who himself felt he had been abandoned by his mother Jo, refused to write an editorial supporting Hannah being with her mother in jail.
Jennifer was then injured in the pursuit of a story for the Spectator and a frantic Jack realized that he was in love with her. He concocted a plan to fake marriage with Jennifer so that Jennifer and he could spend more time together in a more intimate setting. At first, Jennifer was very wary of the idea and point-blank brought up the fact that his track record was lousy and he was very difficult to trust. In the end, she agreed to the plan, but the foster agency refused to give a baby to a man who had assaulted his ex-wife.
Jack was hurt by this, but Jennifer was honest with him about how his past made it hard to trust him. Jennifer decided to move into the apartment Jack had rented out to fool the social worker, and with some behind the scenes maneuvering by the still-tricky Jack, she ended up fostering the baby for a short while.
Jack was adorably endearing helping feed and care for the very young child, and seeing him with the baby made Jennifer develop warmer feelings towards him. Jennifer lost custody when Sally's parents decided to take custody of their grand-daughter. Jennifer was furious with Jack for failing to warn her about this when he had known it was happening, but in the end, turned to him for comfort when she realized he just didn't know how to tell her.
Emilio came back to town, and Jennifer ended up getting involved with him again, but by now, Jack was always on her mind. She did not yet realize she loved Jack, but she verbally and emotionally sparred with him in a way that gave off super-couple sparks. Jack continued to try to move in on Jennifer, but refused to admit that was what he was doing.
Jennifer's constant urging that he do the right thing ended up having a huge effect on Jack. The newspaper business was also a very good influence on him, and before he knew it, he found himself wanting to do good things for the sake of doing them, and not for the sake of being thought a hero. He tried to subtly get closer to Steve, Adrienne and Jo, Steve was very leery of the purported change.
Steve's presumed-dead wife Marina came to town and blackmailed Steve to help her find a key. Intrigued by this, Jack started to try to snoop around and Steve kept warning him to keep out of it. Eventually Jack struck up a friendship with Marina's very kind sister Isabella who she had been keeping locked up in a sanitarium. Jack helped Isabella escape, and the two struck up a genuine friendship. At this time, Isabella's blind acceptance of him, as well as the other good influences in his life had pushed Jack into becoming the kind of person who took responsibilities for the things he had done. Jack began to feel that he was a terrible person who didn't deserve a woman like Jennifer. He was terrified he would end up hurting her like he had hurt Kayla, or the way Harper had hurt all the women he had attacked, or even the way Duke had hurt his mother and sister.
As Jack began to realize the depth of how bad his past actions were, he frantically sought to push Jennifer away. Jo Johnson and Isabella Toscano both tried to get him to see that he and Jennifer made sense. Jennifer had fallen in love with Jack by now, and was finally admitting to herself. Although initially against the match, her grandmother was also starting to see the magic between the two.
Jack ended up finding the missing key and helping Steve find Kayla who had been kidnapped by Victor Kiriakis who also wanted the key, since he had been searching for it for years. This finally brought Jack together with Steve and although his relationship with his family was still on shaky legs, Jack was asked to be Steve's best man at his remarriage to Kayla who was also struggling to accept the reformed Jack. During the Key incident, Jack had tried hard to persuade Kayla not to leave Steve, and Kayla had finally realized that Jack really did want to help bring Steve and Kayla together.
Jack discovered that the treasure behind the key was Isabella's mother's diary. The diary revealed that Isabella was Victor Kiriakis's daughter, and that Isabella's father, Ernesto had killed Isabella's mother. Frantic to protect Isabella from this harsh and terrible truth, he ripped out the truth-revealing pages and gave her the rest of the diary.
Jennifer tried to force Jack into declaring himself by getting engaged to Emilio, but Jack held steady. Jennifer tried on numerous occasions to seduce him, but Jack tried very hard to resist her, believing firmly he did not deserve Jennifer.
Harper contacted Jack in an effort to get Jack's help in convincing the parole board that he should go free. Jennifer and Jack shared a very passionate set of kisses when Jennifer tearfully begged Jack to start seeing himself as a good man. Jack was convinced that he was just like Harper and that he owed to Harper, as his son, to help him.
Jennifer desperately wanted Harper to leave Jack alone, because Jack was doing so well at travelling a redemptive path. Jennifer felt Harper was a toxic weight around Jack's neck. Furious that a 'little girl' presumed to tell him what to do, Harper told a frightened Jack that he would kill Jennifer if she continued this behavior. Although Harper was in jail, Jack knew that his adoptive father would find a way to make it happen, so he pushed Jennifer away by firing her.
Jennifer was quickly hired by WATB, a television station and ended up becoming an anchorwoman.
When Jennifer was set to marry Emilio, Jack kidnapped her on her wedding day so that she would have time to think about her future and he confessed his true feelings. Of course, Jennifer was asleep during his heartfelt speech. They ended up on a ledge together after Jennifer ran off when she realized he was faking a newsreport of dangerous bears in the area. Jack finally appeared to be giving into Jennifer and the two were gently kissing on the ledge when Melissa and Emilio came and rescued them.
Jennifer was furious at Jack for pushing her away yet again and told him that she would marry Emilio. Emilio decided to delay the wedding, and was developing feelings for his singing partner, Melissa, who returned those feelings. Neither Emilio nor Melissa were ready to admit those feelings to themselves or each other.
Jack and Jennifer ended up on a cruise together in the name of work. The cruise was secretly being orchestrated by Isabella's presumed-dead alleged father Ernesto. Ernesto set the whole thing up so he could kill everyone involved with Isabella. Ernesto wanted Isabella dead because he found out that she was really Victor Kiriakis's daughter. Ernesto had already poisoned and killed Isabella's mother long ago.
During the 'Cruise of Deception' arc, Jack and Jennifer finally made love on a remote island after being shipwrecked.
When they got back home, Jack was still nervous about one day hurting Jennifer. He was getting used to the idea of them as a couple when he ended up killing Harper accidentally when he tried to stop Harper from shooting Steve on Steve's wedding to Kayla (Jack had been best man when Steve tried to marry Kayla after the Marina incident nullified Steve's marriage to Kayla, but the wedding was interrupted when Kayla was wrongly arrested for Marina's murder. The real killer was Isabella who had killed her sister accidentally and then blocked it from her mind).
After killing Harper, Jack was hammered by the press about his dark and dangerous past. It brought back all of his fears and self-loathing and despite counsel from Steve and Jennifer's persistent love, he pushed her away yet again, this time making her feel so hopeless that she embarked to New York on an adventure to try to protect her boarding-school best friend Katarina from an arranged marriage to Lawrence Alamain.
Jack tried to rush to New York to protect her and although the two declared their love and reunited, she refused to give up her subterfuge. In the meantime, Steve was 'killed' by a bomb meant for Bo Brady. All evidence pointed to Lawrence as being behind Steve's death, because Lawrence had a vendetta against Bo from years ago when Bo helped Katarina (aka Carly Manning) get away from him when he and Katarina fought when she found out his true identity. He had tried to fool her into thinking he was someone else so that she would fall in love and marry him. Bo's interference destroyed his plans and he wanted revenge.
Jack rushed back to Salem when he found out Steve had been hurt and he spent hours at the hospital with Kayla and his mother and sister. As he grew closer to his family and began to build a better relationship to Kayla, Steve too a turn for the worse, and died, pushing Jack to realize that you couldn't push the ones you loved away - you might not ever get a chance to tell them how you really feel.
During this time, Lawrence forced Jennifer to go through the wedding by kidnapping her and her Grandmother and making them go to his country. Jack flew to Lawrence's home country and he tried once again to rescue Jennifer, but he was hit on the head prior to the wedding and while he was incarcerated, Jennifer was raped by Lawrence Alamain.
Meanwhile, Frankie Brady was also being held prisoner by Lawrence as bait. He was really Katarina's brother Francoise.
Traumatized by the rape, Jennifer flinched whenever Jack tried to get close after they got back to Salem. Remembeirng how and why Kayla always rejected his advances, Jack began to suspect Jennifer and Frankie of having an affair when Jennifer begged Frankie to move in with her after rejecting Jack's offer to live together. Jennifer then turned down Jack's proposal, but when he came back as Santa Claus, she relented, feeling some of the old love for him. Jennifer was reeling from the rape and was having trouble dealing with the fact that Jack himself had committed rape. She was unable to tell Jack, and the misunderstandings began to mount. Every time Jennifer flinched, Jack was reminded of what went on when he was married to Kayla and begged Jennifer to tell him if she wanted out of the relationship. Jennifer refused to acknowledge that anything was wrong, and their relationship was temporarily derailed when Jennifer slapped Jack and called him a rapist when he tried to force her to kiss him to remind her of the passion between them. The kiss triggered a flashback of what happened with Lawrence, but a heartbroken Jack thought that Jennifer had finally come to her senses and begun to see that he really was a dangerous man.
Jennifer begged him to forgive her, but he was deeply hurt and ended the engagement. He ended up marrying Eve Donovan so that they could both inherit Nick Corelli's fortune. Jack needed the money to stop Lawrence (who had followed them all to Salem) from buying Diana Colville's half of the Spectator.
Jack married Eve (in name only) after seeing Jennifer and Frankie at the midtown motel. Jennifer was there to meet a source, but seeing Frankie holding a tearful Jennifer after Frankie insisted Jennifer tell him what was wrong with her, he got the wrong idea.
Jack and Jennifer were thrown together in another adventure when they were forced to share a train cabin during the Train arc where they were trying to find the murder weapon used to kill Nick Corelli. Eve was accused of killing Nick and Jack and Jennifer were trying to prove her innocence. Eve and Frankie were developing into a couple, and Jack continued to pretend he had no feelings for Jennifer left.
After a lot of hurt and misunderstandings, Jennifer finally confessed to Jack what had happened. The revelation caused him a great deal of anguish - not only because the woman he loved had been suffering so much, but because he felt that he was no better than the man who had done it to her. Jennifer finally convinced him to at least try to give their relationship a chance.
Jennifer pressed charges against Lawrence and Jack stood by her side, gaining new insight as to how he had made Kayla feel during their own trial for his rape of her. The experience brought Jack and Jennifer even closer together, aided surprisingly by Kayla who urged Jack not to let his own past prevent him from being there for Jennifer. Kayla and Shane worked with Jack and Jennifer to bring Lawrence down, and Jack admitted on the witness stand that what he had done to Kayla had truly been rape. Unlike Jack, Lawrence was convicted of marital rape and served a few years of jail time.
Jack proposed to Jennifer as soon as the trial was over, and the couple finally got married in 1991. The ceremony took on a Wild West theme and the newlyweds honeymooned in Hollywood, California. They made love on the set of a game show – and daughter Abigail was conceived! Soon after, Jack felt sure he was having a relapse of Hodgkin’s Disease and set on a mission to find Jennifer a suitable new husband. Nevermind the fact that Jack was in perfect health. Abby, however, developed a mystery illness that Jack traced back to his own father’s shady business practices. Wrought with guilt, Jack left town – and left Jennifer alone to raise their daughter.
Soon, smooth-talking Peter Blake entered the picture and Jennifer’s heart. Peter and Jennifer married at Aremid in 1995, despite Jack’s return to Salem. Jennifer didn’t realize that Peter (Stefano DiMera’s adopted son) had conspired to make Jennifer’s mom look crazy. When Jennifer found out about Peter's shady past, she served him with divorce papers, but she refused to take Jack back. Jack suspected that Peter planned to kidnap Jennifer and Abby and he was right. The two men struggled and Peter was killed. After one glorious Christmas with Jennifer and Abby, Jack was sent to prison for Peter’s murder. Jack later escaped to find Jennifer, after DiMera’s henchmen kidnapped her. When all was said and done Jack and Jennifer were back together and living in Africa with Abby.
[edit] The Deverauxs Return to Salem
While in Africa things began to fall apart and Jack was less and less there for his wife and daughter, disappearing for months at a time. Eventually Jennifer had had enough and left Africa for Ireland with Abigail. With the help of Jennifer's beloved grandmother Alice Horton, Jack was able to track Jennifer down and insist they work things out. Jennifer, however, who's heart had been broken too many times by Jack before, wouldn't let herself admit she was falling for him again.
The next few years were rocky for Jack & Jennifer. Even when they were both with other people – they constantly had one eye on the unmistakable love they shared. Eventually, they reunited and remarried – only to have Jack fall victim to The Salem Stalker. A grieving and pregnant Jennifer, unaware that Jack was alive on the island with the other “victims”, spent the months trying to move on and befriending a shady man named Patrick who had his sights set on Jennifer.
Jennifer couldn’t forget her true love, however, and set out into the thick jungle of the island to find him. They reunited and Jennifer gave birth to their son, Jack Jr. As they gathered their friends to finally escape from the island, Tony DiMera launched one final attack – and it appeared Jack was a real victim this time. In reality, he was being held captive. Once again, Jack & Jennifer’s love proved too strong – and Jack overcame the odds to return to Salem and reunite once again with Jennifer.
Once Jack was diagnosed with a terminal disease, he made Frankie Brady promise to take care of Jennifer once he was gone. Frankie and Jennifer had been romantically involved prior to Jack and Jennifer, and although Frankie and Jennifer had never consummated that love, Frankie still believed that Jennifer was his one true love. Once Jack knew his family would be cared for after he was gone, Jack decided to stage his death, since he didn't want his loved ones to watch him die.
Jack was presumed dead once after his car went off a bridge, but in June 2006, Jack returned to Salem with his brother Steve, who everyone thought had died back in 1990. Jack was dying in a hospital, and when they moved him to hospice care, the hospice orderly was a man with a black eye-patch. Steve Johnson. The somewhat delirious Jack thought he was imagining things at first, but then he realized that his brother was right there, trying to help him in his last days, only Steve had no idea who he really was. He had woken up back in 1990 without any of his memories and after failing to regain them, tried to make a new life for himself. 'Nick' was amused by the other man's insistence that they were brothers, and he finally agreed to give the man his dying wish and took a DNA test. He was stunned to find out that the DNA test proved they were brothers. Overwhelmed that the brother he had lost had now returned to him, Jack begged Steve to go back to Salem, trying to tell him all about the wonderful life he had once had. Steve said that he would only go back if Jack went back too, so that he could say goodbye to his family. Putting his own desire to not have his loved ones watch hime die aside, Jack agreed, and the two brothers returned to Salem.
They arrived home on the day of Jennifer's wedding with Frankie. Jennifer had moved on with Frankie because she knew it was what Jack wanted, but she still loved Jack. Her love for Frankie was the love of old friends. She felt that Frankie would always be there for her, even though her heart belonged to Jack. Daughter Abigail was furious about the match and was convinced her father would yet again return from presumed-dead, since there had been no body found.
Jack begged Steve to stop off at the church so that Steve could wander around the grounds and maybe remember the time he had married Kayla. Of course, this is also where Steve was allegedly buried, a fact that Jack remembered as they wandered the grounds together.
Jack was very weak and sick, but he wanted to go into the church, and when he opened the door, he saw Jennifer and Frankie finishing up their wedding ceremony. Everyone was shocked, more so now that Jack revealed to his over-wrought mother that her other son was alive too.
Kayla, who had left Salem back in 1991 had returned for Jennifer's wedding. She had been overwhelmed by memories of Steve and was in the churchyard trying to regain her composure. While grieving at Steve's gravesite, she saw him, and fainted.
The Brothers Johnson had reunited with themselves and their families.
Jack continued to get worse and Jennifer was unable to break away from her commitment to Frankie. She felt guilty about hurting Frankie, and wary about any possibility of a future with Jack who up until now had repeatedly come in and out of her life.
Frankie found on the internet a drug trial that could help Jack, and it worked. Jack recovered from whatever ailed him. Jennifer was still unable to make that decision to chose Jack, and Jack and Frankie both were caught up in an uncomfortable triangle. It wasn't until Jennifer and Jack got into trouble when Jack was investigating a story that sparks began to fly. Jennifer vented some of her anger out at Jack, and while the two of them were lost in the woods, they finally made love. Jack collapsed soon afterwards because he was cold and hungry and so recently recovered from being ill, but he recovered just fine, and then Jack and Jennifer, rescued by the Salem PD, ended up reuniting. Jennifer gently let Frankie know that she cared deeply about him, but Jack had always been the love of her life, and she was going to build her life with him.
Finally realizing that Jennifer never would be his, a heart-broken Frankie eventually left Salem.
The couple received great news when Jack was offered a reporting job in London. It was everything Jack and Jennifer had ever wanted. With Abby remaining in Salem with family, Jack and Jennifer left for Europe with JJ.
Steve's memory came back in December 2006, and for a few months viwers lived in hope that Jack Deveraux will come back and help his brother solve the mystery behind his 'death'. Jack did return briefly in April 2007, when Abby and him went to New York City for her spring break.
