Jesse Tyler Ferguson (born October 22, 1975)^[1] is an American actor. From 2009 to 2020, he portrayed Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom Modern Family, for which he earned five consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Ferguson made his Broadway debut in On the Town, and was in the original Broadway cast of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, for which he and his ensemble cast won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Cast Ensemble. He has appeared in theatre adaptations of A Winter's Tale, The Producers, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Spamalot and The Merchant of Venice. For his performance in the 2016 Broadway production of Fully Committed, Ferguson was awarded a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance. He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in the 2022 Broadway revival of Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson was born in Missoula, Montana,^[1] to Anne Ferguson (née Doyle) and Robert "Bob" Ferguson.^[2] His parents divorced when he was 18 years old. Ferguson has a brother, Ben Ferguson, and sister, Kelly Ferguson. Ferguson was named after his paternal grandmother, Jessie Uppercue Ferguson,^[3] to whom he was very close growing up.^[4] His paternal great-grandfather was also named Jesse.^[5]

His family moved when he was young to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he was raised.^[6] At age eight he decided to become an actor, and joined the Albuquerque Children's Theater, where he was a member for six years.^[7] At Albuquerque's St. Pius X High School, Ferguson played Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie and General Bullmoose in Li'l Abner. He participated on the speech and debate team and graduated in 1994.^[8] He worked as a dancer/singer at Cliff's Amusement Park.^[7]

After high school Ferguson attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York City.^[9]

In September 2012, Ferguson and his lawyer husband, Justin Mikita, started the non-profit charity Tie The Knot,^[16] an effort to raise funds in support of same-sex marriage, using bow ties sold to retail.^[17] They officially launched it as their engagement announcement in an online video where they explain only seven states at the time had same-sex marriage.^[17][18][19] In an interview Ferguson stated that he wanted to do something that was smaller and manageable in case it did not work out as a business model.^[20]

The foundation sells limited-edition bow ties to support organizations that advocate for same-sex marriage.^[21] Their collections are designed by the couple plus guest designers, and is sold by The Tie Bar, a Naperville, Illinois-based online men's neckwear company.^[21]

In January 2013, the couple were recruited by Lieutenant Governor of Illinois Sheila Simon to lobby legislators to pass SB10 which would allow same-sex marriage.^[21] The bill passed both legislative houses,^[22][23] and Governor Pat Quinn signed the bill into law,^[24] going into effect on June 1, 2014.^[25]

In October 2013, the American Civil Liberties Union named Ferguson the celebrity ambassador for the LGBT community.^[26] He participated heavily in the ACLU's "Out for Freedom" campaign^[27][28] They noted that Ferguson travelled to New Mexico, his home state, to take part in same sex marriage efforts. Before the state's full legalization of same-sex marriage on December 19, 2013, New Mexico did not explicitly permit or prohibit same-sex marriage; it was the only state lacking a statute or constitutional provision explicitly addressing same-sex marriage.^[29] The couple's non-profit made a grant of US$10,000 to the ACLU of New Mexico for same sex efforts.^[27]

In November 2013, a pop-up retail store for 'Tie The Knot' was located at the Los Angeles Beverly Center featuring the fourth collection from the couple,^[30] including professional athlete designs with Scott Fujita and Chris Kluwe, and Brittney Griner.^[31]

Ferguson uses his full name as there was already an actor called Jesse Ferguson in the actors' union when he joined.^[5]

In September 2012, he announced his engagement to lawyer Justin Mikita, his boyfriend of nearly two years.^[32] They married in Manhattan on July 20, 2013,^[33] with the playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner officiating at their wedding.^[5] The couple have two children, Beckett Mercer Ferguson-Mikita born on July 7, 2020 ^[34] and Sullivan Louis Ferguson-Mikita born on November 15, 2022.^[35]

On the process of coming out, he said he had to tell his father three times (when he was 17, 19 and 21): "It's a coming out process for them as well, and it takes time".^[36]

He has a dog named Leaf.^[5] He is a supporter of the Democratic Party and is shown in the 2016 Democratic National Convention promotional trailer "Our Fight Song".^[37]