James Marsden Movies and Career Information

James Paul Marsden (born September 18, 1973) is an American actor, singer and former Versace model. He is best known for playing the superhero Cyclops in the three X-Men films, and for his roles in other commercially successful films such as Superman Returns, Hairspray, Enchanted, and 27 Dresses. Marsden was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma. His father, Dr. James L. Marsden, Ph.D., a professor of animal sciences and industry at Kansas State University, and his mother, a nutritionist, divorced when he was nine years old. Marsden has four siblings: two younger sisters, Jennifer and Elizabeth, and two brothers, Jeff and Robert. He attended Hefner Middle School and Putnam City North High School, in Oklahoma City, and later went on to attend Oklahoma State University, where he studied broadcast journalism. He was also a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. However, Marsden left after one and a half years, opting instead to move out to Los Angeles in order to pursue his acting career. Marsden got his first job on a series of episodes of The Nanny as Eddie, Margaret Sheffield's boyfriend. He then went on to star in the Canadian television series Boogies Diner, which aired for one season.