Ron Cephas Jones (born January 8, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the drama series '' This Is Us'' (2016–2022), which earned him four consecutive

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

nominations, winning twice for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2018 and 2020. Jones appeared in television series such as ''

Mr. Robot ''Mr. Robot'' is an American drama thriller television series created by Sam Esmail for USA Network. It stars Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity engineer and hacker with social anxiety disorder, clinical depression and dissociati ...

'' (2015–2016), '' The Get Down'' (2016–2017), ''Luke Cage'' (2016–2018), and '' Truth Be Told'' (2019-present). He also appeared in a number of films, including '' Half Nelson'' (2006), ''

Across the Universe "Across the Universe" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song first appeared on the 1969 various artists' charity compilation album ''No One's Gonna Change Our W ...

'' (2007), ''

Glass Chin ''Glass Chin'' is a 2014 American crime drama film written and directed by Noah Buschel, starring Corey Stoll, Billy Crudup, John Moyes, Marin Ireland, Yul Vazquez and Kelly Lynch. It premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival. Plot Bud Gordon ...

'' (2014), ''

The Holiday Calendar ''The Holiday Calendar'' is a 2018 American Christmas romantic comedy film directed by Bradley Walsh from a screenplay by Amyn Kaderali. The film stars Kat Graham, Quincy Brown, Ethan Peck, and Ron Cephas Jones. It was released on November 2, 2 ...

'' (2018), ''

Dog Days The dog days or are the hot, sultry days of summer. They were historically the period following the heliacal rising of the star system Sirius (known colloquially as the "Dog Star"), which Hellenistic astrology connected with heat, drought, sudden ...

'' (2018), and '' Dolemite Is My Name'' (2019).

Early life

Jones was born on January 8, 1957, in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest city in and the county seat of Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.John F. Kennedy High School and graduated from

Ramapo College Ramapo College of New Jersey (RCNJ) is a public liberal arts college in Mahwah, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. As of the fall 2021 semester, there were a total of 5,732 students enrolled at the college ...

. While at Ramapo, Jones had originally intended to study jazz under director Arnold Jones (no relation), but changed majors to theater after getting the lead in a production of ''Cinderella Ever After'' his sophomore year. Jones graduated from Ramapo in 1978, after which he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and drove a bus for the Southern California Rapid Transit District for the next four years. During that time, Jones stated he "fell in love, had a child, got separated". He then "traveled around", living in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

before returning to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1985.

Career

After returning to New York in 1985, Jones began spending time at the

Nuyorican Poets Café The Nuyorican (Puerto Rican New Yorkers) Poets Cafe is a nonprofit organization in Alphabet City, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is a bastion of the Nuyorican art movement in New York City, and has become a forum for poetry, music, hip ...

in Manhattan's East Village. During that time, he performed in a play based on the

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

song '' Don't Explain''. His performance caught the attention of a casting director, which led to Jones being offered the lead role in the Tazewell Thompson production of the

Cheryl West Cheryl L. West (born October 23, 1965, Chicago) is an American playwright. Life West holds a degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She worked as a social worker and taught before turning to playwriting. In 1990, she came ...

play ''Holiday Heart'' in 1994. Jones has performed in several theatrical productions with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

; appeared as the title character of Shakespeare's ''Richard III'' with

The Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, as well as other

Off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

productions. Jones has served as an

understudy In theater, an understudy, referred to in opera as cover or covering, is a performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor, actress, or other performer in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to a ...

or standby in several

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...

productions. In 2014 Jones starred as Prometheus in Prometheus Bound directed by

Travis Preston Travis Preston (born September 20, 1959) is an American director and theater artist known for his temper and abusive tendencies. He is the Artistic Director of the CalArts Center for New Performance and Dean of the CalArts School of Theater. Hi ...

through the

CalArts Center for New Performance The CalArts Center for New Performance (CNP) is the professional producing arm of the California Institute of the Arts. It provides a unique artist- and project-driven framework for the development and realization of original theater, music, dance, ...

. His film credits include ''

He Got Game ''He Got Game'' is a 1998 American sports drama film written, produced and directed by Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington and Ray Allen. The film revolves around Jake Shuttlesworth (Denzel Washington), father of the top-ranked basketball pr ...

'' (1998), '' Sweet and Lowdown'' (1999), ''Half Nelson'' (2006), and ''Across The Universe'' (2007). In television, he appeared as Reverend Lowdown in the episode "The Goat Rodeo" of the 2013 television series '' Low Winter Sun'' and he played Romero, a member of "fsociety" in the 2015 television series ''

''. He also appeared on season 3 of the show ''Banshee'' as Philadelphia kingpin, Mr. Frasier. He played Harlem chess master Bobby Fish in season 1 of Marvel's ''Luke Cage''. Since 2016, Jones stars on the NBC

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

series '' This Is Us'' as William Hill, the biological father of Randall Pearson (

Sterling K. Brown Sterling Kelby Brown (born April 5, 1976) is an American actor. He has portrayed Christopher Darden in the FX limited series '' The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story'' (2016) and stars as Randall Pearson in the NBC drama series '' ...

). Jones received critical acclaim for his performance on ''This Is Us'' and received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2018 and 2020 for his performance. Currently, Jones appears in the

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...

teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

series ''Looking for Alaska'', as well as the

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced ...

crime drama series ''Truth Be Told'', opposite Octavia Spencer, Lizzy Caplan and

Aaron Paul Aaron Paul (born Aaron Paul Sturtevant; August 27, 1979) is an American actor best known for portraying Jesse Pinkman in the AMC series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013), for which he won several awards, including the Critics' Choice Television ...

Personal life

Jones and British-born jazz singer Kim Lesley have a daughter, American stage and screen actress

Jasmine Cephas Jones Jasmine Cephas Jones (born July 21, 1989) is an American-British actress, singer, and producer, who originated the dual roles of Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds in the Broadway stage musical '' Hamilton''. In 2020, Cephas Jones won a Primetime ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Ron Cephas 20th-century births Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors African-American male actors American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male Shakespearean actors John F. Kennedy High School (Paterson, New Jersey) alumni Living people Male actors from Chicago Male actors from New York City Theatre in Chicago 1957 births People from Paterson, New Jersey Primetime Emmy Award winners Ramapo College alumni