Jeremy Jackson was born in Newport Beach, California. He has a younger sister, Taylor. Their mother Jolanna, raised them as a single parent. Jeremy had a learning problem with a disorder called dyslexia, which greatly interferes with reading and writing abilities, but it was caught very early and was quickly addressed. While in first grade, he wrote letters and words backward. No one could understand what he wrote unless they held his documents up to a mirror. He worked hard in summer school and was able to write normally. Like most people with dyslexia, he could learn and memorize quickly. Reading and memorizing lines from his early Baywatch days had helped Jeremy further with the disorder.

 

Jeremy was one of those children who seemed to be born for show business. He loved attention, dressing up in different getups and putting on little shows in front of his family and friends, doing impersonations of recording stars like Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson (in his one-gloved glory days). Many of his mother's friends would tell her that he was extremely talented and should submit his photo to a talent agent. Realizing that they were right and couldn't deny her son's talent, she asked him if he wanted to be on television. Jeremy's answer was "yes." She was soon getting an agent when he was six years old, Jeremy was sent out on auditions and landed his first commercial after his third try. His first assignment at age 7 was a commercial for Mattel cars. He went on to do about 15 commercials.