Fans and audiences are still reeling from the sudden passing of acclaimed actor Ron Cephas Jones.
The Emmy Award-winning actor died on Saturday due to a long-standing pulmonary issue, according to People magazine. Across a career spanning four decades, Jones has amassed an extensive reportoire of perfromances across stage, film and television. Here are some of Ron Cephas Jones’ most memorable performances.
- William “Shakespeare” Hill in This Is Us.
Jones is perhaps best known for his role as William “Shakespeare” Hill on the NBC drama This Is Us. In the show’s canon, Hill was revealed to be the biological father of Randall Pearson (Sterling K. Brown), as well as a recovering drug user who is suffering from terminal, stage-four stomach cancer. For his riveting performance, Jones was awarded the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2018 and 2020.
- Congressman Leon Kilbride on Law & Order: Organized Crime.
On Law & Order: Organized Crime, Jones appeared as Congressman Leon Kilbride. A politician and former police officer who is also corrupt, Kilbride’s complex relationship with the law comes into conflict with the straight-laced morals of Sergeant Ayanna Bell (Danielle Mone Truitt), as displayed by the scene above.
- Montrellous in Clyde’s
In 2021, Jones appeared alongsideUzo Aduba, Edmund Donovan, Reza Salazar, and Kara Young in the Broadway production of Lynn Nottage’s play Clyde’s. The play, which follows a group of formerly incarcerated employees at a truck stop diner, premiered at the Hayes Theater in November 2021 and closed in January 2022. For his performance, Jones was nominated for Best Featured Actor In A Play at the 75th Tony Awards in 2022.
- Ice in Paid In Full
Prior to his acclaimed turn in This Is Us, Jones appeared alongside the likes of Mekhin Phifer and Wood Harris in the 2002 crime drama Paid In Full. Fictionally based on the 1980s Harlem drug dealers Azie “AZ” Faison, Rich Porter, and Alpo Martinez. The film sees Jones portraying the role of Ice, a junkie loosely inspired by Porter’s real-life uncle Apple.
Other memorable roles of Cephas Jones’ include Bobby Fish in Luke Cage, Shreve in Truth be Told and more.
What’s your favorite performance of his?
