Emmy Award-winning actor Ron Cephas-Jones passes away – A look at his career

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Ron Cephas-Jones passed away on August 19 at the age of 66. Popular for his role in the NBC television series This Is Us, he had two Emmy Awards wins to his credit as well as a Tony Award nomination. However, he was more prolific as a stage actor, being seen in several William Shakespeare play adaptations. Ron Cephas-Jones is the father of original Broadway ‘Hamilton’ actor Jasmine Cephas-Jones.

Ron Cephas-Jones’s manager Dan Spilo announced his death in a statement, informing that the actor had died «due to a long-standing pulmonary issue». “Throughout the course of his career, his warmth, beauty, generosity, kindness and heart were felt by anyone who had the good fortune of knowing him,” the statement added. In 2020, Ron Cephas-Jones had a double lung transplant due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. Ron Cephas-Jones was born in New Jersey in 1957. He went on to graduate from Ramapo College, where he studied theater. In the 1980s, when he moved to New York, he spent time collaborating at the Nuyorican Poets Café, which was a hub for creativity.

In 1994, Ron Cephas-Jones played the lead in Cheryl West’s drama ‘Holiday Heart’, which turned out to be a breakout role for him. He went on to act in several off-Broadway plays, including Shakespeare’s Richard III at The Public Theater in New York. He also worked with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. Among Ron Cephas-Jones’s Shakespeare plays was Sam Mendes’ production of The Tempest, where he essayed Caliban. Mendes told The Independent after Ron Cephas-Jones’s death, “I’m beyond sad that Ron has left us. An absolutely wonderful actor, and the gentlest, wisest, most