James is a veteran of daytime soaps, first appearing in Search for Tomorrow in the late 1970s. In 1981, he won the role of Jeff Colby in Dynasty, appearing in the very first episode, "Oil", and remaining on the soap opera until the final episode, Catch 22 in 1989.^[2] James played the same role in The Colbys between 1985 and 1987,^[2] and one last time in the 1991 TV movie, Dynasty: The Reunion.

James was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role in Dynasty in 1985 and appeared at the 1986 ceremony. The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film went to Edward James Olmos.^[3]

James returned to the genre playing Rick Decker on As the World Turns in 2003–2004.^[4] In May 2006, he was cast in the role of Dr. Jeff Martin (the first husband of Erica Kane played by series star Susan Lucci) on the ABC daytime soap opera All My Children. He began appearing the following month. On July 15, 2008, James returned to As the World Turns, reprising the role of demented Dr. Rick Decker.^[5]

In film, James starred in Icebreaker (2000) with Sean Astin, Bruce Campbell, and Stacy Keach; in The Cursed aka Peril (2001) with Morgan Fairchild and Michael Pare; in Lightning: Fire from the Sky (2001) with Jesse Eisenberg, Stacy Keach and John Schneider and in Chronology (2015) with William Baldwin and Danny Trejo,^[6] all of which were directed by David Giancola.

He produced and starred in Illegal Aliens (2007). In 2012, James starred in the Giancola documentary, Addicted to Fame (2012), about the making of their film Illegal Aliens.^[7] In 2016, James produced and starred in another Giancola film — the sci-fi action adventure, Axcellerator which reunited him with The Colbys co-star Maxwell Caulfield while James' daughter Laura played one of the roles.^[8]

James has appeared on stage intermittently, from musicals for the producer John Kenley to a 1996 national tour of Dial 'M' for Murder with Roddy McDowall,^[9] to playing Captain Keller in Judson Theatre Company's The Miracle Worker in 2018.^[10]

James was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as one of the three children of radio broadcaster Herb Oscar Anderson (1928—2017)^[11] and his first wife. His brother, Herb Oscar Anderson II, is an actor.^[12]

In 1989, James married Denise Ellen Coward (born 1955 in Australia), a model and 2nd Runner-up for Miss World 1978.^[13] They have two children.^[14] In 2012, James' daughter, Laura, won America's Next Top Model, Cycle 19.^[15] His son Phillip is serving in the United States Air Force.^[16]

In 2014, James considered running as a Republican for New York's 21st congressional district. ^[17]

• This Time b/w Fooling Around (with Heidi Bruhl; 1984)^[22]
• Painted Dreams b/w Sleeping In Your Arms Again (1985) (GER # 60, 5 weeks)^[23][24]

• John James at IMDb
• John James at the Internet Broadway Database