Ron Cephas Jones, who played Randall’s father on This Is Us, has died at age 66. He had been battling a pulmonary issue.
This Is Us was on NBC from 2016 to 2022. Jones portrayed William “Shakespeare” Hill, a former drug addict with terminal cancer who gets involved in the life of his adult son, Randall, whom he had given up just after the baby’s birth on the steps of a fire station.
Sterling K. Brown played Randall.
This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman shared on Twitter: “I first got to know Ron at the start of This Is Us, a magical time when it felt like we were all being shot out of a cannon. He was always steady, always grateful — even as the madness swirled around us. He loved actors. He LOVED his daughter. And we loved him. All of Us.”
I first got to know Ron at the start of This Is Us, a magical time when it felt like we were all being shot out of a cannon. He was always steady, always grateful - even as the madness swirled around us. He loved actors. He LOVED his daughter. And we loved him. All of Us.August 20, 2023
Jones received Emmy nominations for outstanding supporting actor for his work on This Is Us in 2017 and outstanding guest actor in 2018, 2019 and 2020. He won in 2018 and 2020.
Jones was also active in theater. He had the lead in Richard III, put on by the Public Theater, in 2012. He was in the Broadway show Clyde’s in 2021 and 2022, playing Montrellous in a drama about a sandwich shop at a truck stop that is staffed by ex-convicts.
Jones was born in 1957 in Paterson, New Jersey and graduated from Ramapo College in 1978. He battled heroin, and the acting work picked up after he got sober.
Jones’ daughter, Jasmine Cephas Jones, played Peggy Schuyler in the original Broadway production of Hamilton.
His other TV credits include Mr. Robot, Lisey’s Story, Better Things and Luke Cage.
