Leilani Jones Wilmore (born May 14, 1957) is an American actress.
Life and career
Jones was born in
Oahu, Hawaii
Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O’ ...
. She originated the role of Chiffon at the WPA Theater in the original cast of ''Little Shop of Horrors (musical), Little Shop of Horrors''. Marlene Danielle replaced her for a few weeks when the show opened Off Broadway at the Orpheum Theater. Jones resumed her role at that time and played the part for three more years. Jones also recorded the role on the original cast recording. Jones next went on to play the role of Satin, a stripper at a Chicago burlesque house, in the original Broadway theatre, Broadway production of ''Grind (musical), Grind''. Jones won a Tony as Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award for her performance.
After leaving ''Grind'', Jones married writer, actor and television producer Larry Wilmore and her career slowed down considerably, as she appeared only in small roles in a few movies and television shows and did voice over work for video games, most notably portraying the voice performance of the Minor characters in Monkey Island#Voodoo Lady, Voodoo Lady in the popular video games series of ''Monkey Island (series), Monkey Island'', the voice of the computer in ''Carmen Sandiego (franchise), Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?'', as well as descriptive video service audio tracks for television shows and films. In 2005, Jones reprised her role of Chiffon in New York at a ''Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS'' fundraiser. Jones currently lives in San Marino, California with her two children. She and Wilmore divorced during his move to New York to become a host on Comedy Central.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video Games
Discography
* ''Little Shop of Horrors (musical), Little Shop of Horrors'': Original Cast Album, 1982 Decca U.S. Label
* ''Grind (musical), Grind'': Original Broadway Cast, 1985 on the LP Record Label
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Leilani
1957 births
Actresses from Hawaii
American stage actresses
American television actresses
American video game actresses
Drama Desk Award winners
Living people
Native Hawaiian actresses
People from Oahu
Tony Award winners
People from San Marino, California
21st-century American actresses
20th-century American actresses