Date of Birth

13 December 1988, Wichita, Kansas, USA

Birth Name

Colton Lee Haynes

Height

5' 9" (1.75 m)

Mini Biography

American actor and model Colton Lee Haynes was born in Wichita, Kansas, to Dana Denise (Mitchell) and William Clayton Haynes. He began modeling at age 15 and his first success came with an Abercrombie & Fitch campaign. He also modeled for J.C. Penney, Kira Plastinina, and Ralph Lauren. He is best known for his role as Jackson Whittemore on MTV's Teen Wolf (2011). He also played Brett Crezski on ABC's The Gates. He has had guest appearances on several television shows, including The Hills, CSI: Miami, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, and Look.

Trivia

• Was considered for the role of Edward Cullen in Twilight (2008). The role went to Robert Pattinson, in what would have been Colton's first credited feature film. (He had an uncredited role in Transformers (2007), his first filmed role of any kind). His (credited) feature film debut was not until eight years later.
• Considered for the role of Royce in the Nickelodeon movie Spectacular! (2009). The Role went to Simon Curtis.
• San Andreas (2015) was Colton's first credited feature film role.
• Lived on a Farm in Andale, Kansas and then moved around his whole life. He lived in Arkansas, New Mexico, Florida, and Texas, as well.
• Went to three different High Schools. One in Kansas, one in Florida, and another in Texas where he was nominated for Prom King and Most Likely to be Famous.
• Won "Gatorade Player of the Year" Award his junior year in Tennis.
• Worked as the Red Robin bird Mascot at a restaurant in high school.
• Has an older brother and two older sisters. His brother, Clinton, is going to college and is also an actor. His older sister, Julie, died after a long battle with cancer on April 6, 2020, aged only 51.
• Has a wall in his house that is called "The Great Wall of Positivity" where he writes all of his positive thoughts.
• Was a model for Abercrombie and Fitch before becoming an actor.
• One of Colton's paternal great-great-great-grandmothers, Sarah Ann Ward, was of part Cherokee Native American ancestry, making Colton of somewhere under 1/32 or 1/64 Cherokee descent. Colton's other ancestry is mostly English, with small amounts of Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, German, French Huguenot, and Welsh.
• Is a close friend of Matt Dallas.
• Shooting an upcoming Editorial for Vogue Hommes Paris that will be out in March/April [January 2009]
• Shooting the upcoming Replay clothing Campaign in Italy [June 2009]
• Shooting Arena Homme Plus Magazine photographed by Danielle Levitt that will come out in March 2009. [December 2008]
• Filming the new Showtime Series called "Look" written and directed by Adam Rifkin [June 2009]
• Filming the upcoming Hallmark TV Movie "Always and Forever" starring opposite Barbara Eden, Rena Sofer, and Dean Mcdermott. [December 2008]
• Colton has enjoyed singing since he was young child.
• Engaged to Jeff Leatham on March 2017, and the two were married on October 27, 2017 in Palm Springs, California, USA.
• Jeff Leatham proposed to Colton first, in March 2017, with the assistance of Cher and Melanie Griffith by video, while Jeff and Colton were in Los Cabos, Mexico, and Colton accepted. In May 2017, Colton proposed back to Jeff while they were visiting Las Vegas, Nevada, with new matching rings.
• When they got married, Jeff Leatham and Colton decided on "Haynes-Leatham" as their married surname.
• Jeff and Colton's first in person date began in Paris at the airport, by chance, even though they had been introduced electronically by mutual friends four years earlier (but did not meet in person), and then on their flight back to the USA, they passed Post-It notes back and forth to each other from three rows apart, before switching rows so they could sit together.
• Kris Jenner officiated at Jeff Leatham and Colton's Palm Springs, California, USA wedding ceremony on October 27, 2017, where they wore matching white (coat) and black (tie, pants) tuxedos.
• Has stated in interviews that his father, William Clayton Haynes, is virulently anti-gay, causing estrangement between Colton and his father, but he has not indicated whether his mother, Dana Denise Haynes is also virulently anti-gay or not, and whether there is also estrangement between Colton and his mother. Evidently, Colton and his father were able to mend fences enough for his father to come to Colton's wedding in October 2017, and was reported to have given a short, but sweet, speech at the wedding banquet, which was confirmed by friend and wedding attendee Cheyenne Jackson in an interview which appeared in People Magazine on November 10, 2017.
• Colton filed for divorce from Jeff Leatham on May 5, 2018.
• His mother, Dana Denise Mitchell, died from liver and kidney failure on March 23, 2018.
• His sister, Julie Haynes, died on April 6, 2020 from cancer at the age of 51.

Quotes

• I don't really pay attention to the rumors cause at the end of the day, that's exactly what they are. Anyone can go online and write anything they want about people they don't even know and most of the time, that is fueled by hate. The sad part is that people actually believe what they read online. A lot of people are more interested in wondering if Beyoncé is pregnant or who Taylor Swift is dating instead of recognizing them for their hard work and talent. It sucks. Work is work and what I've done thus far has gotten me to where I am today and I'm thankful for that. [Interview, November 2010].
• Kansas is very religious, very Republican, and very straight-laced. I needed to get away from that. [...] My family moved to town and we were kind of the outcasts. It was funny leaving the town and not having a lot of friends and then coming back now; there were people who used to kind of bully me and now they want to be my friend. [Interveiew with E. Ryan Ellis, November 2013]
• There once was a man who was afraid of his shadow. He met it, now he glows in the dark. [2016, after coming out]