Ron Cephas Jones, Who Played William Hill In This Is Us, Has Died At 66 – /Film

As Jones recounted to the New York Times, his early career in the arts was derailed by a heroin addiction that led to an arrest and multiple attempts at rehabilitation. He got clean for the last time in 1986, and went on to star in his first play, Samuel B. Harps’ “Don’t Explain” at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, in 1990.

Reflecting on his late-blooming success in a 2020 interview with Gold Derby, Jones said that he had “waited a long time” for people to notice his work, and his award wins were important primarily as a sign that people were paying attention to his performances. “I just love doing the work and consistently being nominated and winning just says to me that people are acknowledging the work, saying ‘whatever the case may be, Ron’s work deserves to be noticed,'” the actor explained. “It didn’t become about the wins after that, it just became the fact that I was saying to myself, ‘my work is resonating, people are actually noticing my work.'”

Jones is survived by his daughter, Jasmine Cephas Jones, who was part of the original cast of “Hamilton” on Broadway and won her first Emmy in 2020. That was the same year that Ron won his second Emmy award for “This Is Us,” making them the first ever father-daughter pair to win in the same year.

“He moves through the world like a cool jazz man, but is also generous and a nurturer,” was how “Clyde’s” playwright Lynn Nottage characterized Jones in the New York Times’ profile piece. “The same qualities that he brings to his acting are the qualities that he embodies in real life.”