Ron Cephas Jones (; January 8, 1957 – August 19, 2023) was an American actor, best known for his role as William Hill in the drama series ''

This Is Us ''This Is Us'' is an American drama television series created by Dan Fogelman that aired on NBC from September 20, 2016, to May 24, 2022. The series follows the lives and families of two parents and their three children in several different ti ...

'' (2016–2022), which earned him a

Screen Actors Guild Award Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1995 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...

; along with 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. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

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 dissoci ...

'' (2015–2016), ''

The Get Down ''The Get Down'' is an American musical drama television series created by Baz Luhrmann and Stephen Adly Guirgis. The series debuted on Netflix on August 12, 2016, and was cancelled after one season. Produced by Sony Pictures Television, the s ...

'' (2016–2017), ''Luke Cage'' (2016–2018), and '' Truth Be Told'' (2019–2023). 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'' (2014), '' The Holiday Calendar'' (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, ...

'' (2018), and '' Dolemite Is My Name'' (2019). In 2022, he was nominated for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play at the

75th Tony Awards The 75th Tony Awards were held on June 12, 2022, to recognize achievement in Broadway theatre, Broadway productions during the 2021–22 season. The ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with Ariana DeBose serving as host ...

, for his performance in the Broadway play ''Clyde's''.

Early life and education

Ron Cephas Jones, who was of

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

heritage, was born on January 8, 1957. He grew up in

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

Ramapo College Ramapo College of New Jersey (RCNJ) is a Public university, 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 enro ...

. 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. He graduated from Ramapo in 1978. After graduation he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California and drove a bus for the

Southern California Rapid Transit District The Southern California Rapid Transit District (almost always referred to as ''RTD'' or rarely as ''SCRTD'') was a public transportation agency established in 1964 to serve the Greater Los Angeles area. It was the successor to the original Los ...

for the following four years. He then moved around for some years, living in San Francisco,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, and

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, before returning to New York City in 1985.

Career

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

Nuyorican Poets Café The Nuyorican Poets Cafe is a nonprofit organization in the Alphabet City, Manhattan, Alphabet City neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is a bastion of the Nuyorican Movement, Nuyorican (Puerto Rican New Yorker) art movement, and has b ...

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 made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

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 Tazewell Thompson is an American theatre director, the former artistic director of the Westport Country Playhouse (2006–07) in Westport, Connecticut and the Syracuse Stage (1992–95) in New York state. Prior to that he was an assistant direc ...

production of the Cheryl West play ''Holiday Heart'' in 1994. Jones performed in several theatrical productions with the

Steppenwolf Theatre Company Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry (American actor), Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Immaculate Conception grade school in Highland Park, Illinois and is now located in Chica ...

in Chicago, Illinois; appeared as the title character of Shakespeare's ''Richard III'' with

The Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...

in New York City, New York, 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 tha ...

productions. Jones served as an

understudy In theatre, 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 ap ...

or standby in several Broadway theatre productions. In 2014 Jones starred as Prometheus in ''

Prometheus Bound ''Prometheus Bound'' () is an ancient Greek tragedy traditionally attributed to Aeschylus and thought to have been composed sometime between 479 BC and the terminus ante quem of 424 BC. The tragedy is based on the myth of Prometheus, ...

'' directed by Travis Preston through the CalArts Center for New Performance. In 2022, he received a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nomination for his role in the

Lynn Nottage Lynn Nottage (born November 2, 1964) is an American playwright whose work often focuses on the experience of working-class people, particularly working-class people who are black. She has received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice: in 2009 for he ...

play '' Clyde's''. His film credits include '' He Got Game'' (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. Frazier. He played Harlem chess master Bobby Fish in season 1 of

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

's ''Luke Cage''. Jones appeared on the NBC

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

series ''

'' as William Hill, the biological father of Randall Pearson ( Sterling K. Brown). 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 The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a guest st ...

in 2018 and 2020 for his performance. Jones appeared in the

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

teen drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

series ''

Looking for Alaska ''Looking for Alaska'' is a 2005 Young adult literature, young adult novel by American author John Green. Based on his time at the private Indian Springs School, Green wrote the novel in order to create meaningful young adult fiction. While he d ...

'', as well as the

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

crime drama series ''Truth Be Told'', opposite

Octavia Spencer Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970) is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for two Primetime Emmy ...

, Lizzy Caplan and Aaron Paul.

Personal life

Jones and British-born jazz singer Kim Lesley had a daughter, actress Jasmine Cephas Jones (born 1989).

Death

Jones had

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by chronic respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. GOLD defines COPD as a heterogeneous lung condition characterized by chronic respiratory s ...

, and underwent a double

lung transplant Lung transplantation, or pulmonary transplantation, is a surgical procedure in which one or both lungs are replaced by lungs from a donor. Donor lungs can be retrieved from a living or deceased donor. A living donor can only donate one Lobes of t ...

in 2020. He died on August 19, 2023, at the age of 66, from what his agent termed "a long-standing pulmonary issue".

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Ron Cephas 1957 births 2023 deaths 20th-century African-American male actors 20th-century American male actors 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors Male actors from Paterson, New Jersey American male Shakespearean actors American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male voice actors John F. Kennedy High School (Paterson, New Jersey) alumni Male actors from Chicago Male actors from New York City Primetime Emmy Award winners Ramapo College alumni Theatre in Chicago Deaths from lung disease