A talented actor and writer who landed a host of career-making roles in the late 1990s, Orlando Jones got his start in the business with behind-the-scenes creative work on popular African-American sitcoms before gaining attention as a stand out member of the ensemble cast of Fox's irreverent sketch comedy series "Mad TV". Tall and thin, with remarkable onscreen energy and ease, the actor possessed intense malleable features that he used to good effect in both dramatic and comedic roles. Despite this gift, he surprisingly began his career with off-screen pursuits. Jones worked as writer and story editor for NBC's college-set comedy "A Different World" from 1991 to 1992. In 1992 he took a place on Fox's network roster working on the sitcom "Roc" as a writer and executive story editor. The series, following a working-class Baltimore family, would employ him until 1993 when he began working on the network's "The Sinbad Show" as co-producer and executive story editor. Apart from a 1992 brief guest shot on the Fox sitcom "Herman's Head", Jones didn't appear before the camera until 1994, when, following the demise of "The Sinbad Show", he became a host of the daily music magazine series "Sound fX", on the Fox cable outlet FX. From there he landed a regular role on the especially irreverent sketch comedy series "Mad TV", where he took on such varied characters as laid back hip hop superstar Snoop Dogg, wacky sports celebrity Dennis Rodman and the more nefarious Ike Turner and O.J. Simpson to great comedic consequence. Additionally, fans of the series would undoubtedly remember Jones' flamboyant character Dexter, the scantily-clad drummer and musical director for the surrealistic talk show sketch "Cabana Chat".
While "Mad TV" offered the actor exposure and valuable experience, it was Jones' film work that would prove his versatility and endurance. In 1997, he lensed a featured role as a brush salesman caught in the crossfire of a vampire battle in "From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter" (released direct-to-video in 2000). Supporting turns in "Sour Grapes" (as a homeless man embroiled in an outlandish murder plot) and "Woo" came in 1998, followed by an appearance in Mike Judge's live-action directorial debut "Office Space" (co-starring fellow former "Mad TV" cast member David Herman) in 1999. Later that year Jones went from one highly-anticipated ensemble drama to another, when was featured as a slightly sinister drug dealer in Barry Levinson's acclaimed "Liberty Heights", a drama set in turbulent 1954 Baltimore, to Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia". In 2000, he took on roles in two sports-themed features set in the recent past in "The Replacements" (set during the 1987 NFL strike) and the mockumentary "New Jersey Turnpikes", a comedy following a fictional basketball team's struggle through the 1976 ABA-NBA merger. He was additionally featured in the star-studded comedy "Chain of Fools" that year, and teamed up with director Brett Ratner in developing "Sticky Fingers", a comedy feature about a thief, to star and be produced by Jones.
In 2002, Jones portrayed a band director (at the fictional Atlanta A & T University) out to prove that he has the best band/drumline that the historical black colleges and universities have to offer in the drama "Drumline," a feature loosely based on the life of music producer Dallas Austin. He then joined Laurence Fishburne and Derek Luke for the much anticipated motorcycle drama "Biker Boyz' (2003).
Profession(s):
Actor, screenwriter, comedian, producer
Sometimes Credited As:
2006 Made his return to television as Cayman Bishop one of the lead characters of ABC's crime drama "The Evidence"
2006 Starred alongside Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne in stage production of August Wilson's "Fences" in Los Angeles
2003 Co-starred in the motorcycle drama "Biker Boyzs"
2002 Co-starred as a stoic band director in the marching band feature "Drumline"
2001 Teamed with Eddie Griffin in "Double Take"
2001 Co-starred in "Evolution"
2000 Co-starred in "The Replacements", a comedy film following the motley Washington Redskins replacement team during the 1987 NFL players strike
2000 Acted in support of Brendan Fraser in the remake of "Bedazzled"
2000 Featured in the 1976-set basketball mockumentary "The New Jersey Turnpikes"
2000 Appeared in "Chain of Fools", the star-studded feature debut for the Swedish commercial directing collective Traktor
1999 Featured in "King of the Hill" creator Mike Judge's live-action directorial debut "Office Space", co-starring fellow "Mad TV" veteran David Herman
1999 Appeared as a salesman caught in the crossfire in the "From Dusk Till Dawn" prequel "Hangman's Daughter" (filmed in 1997); shown at special one-time screening at Halloween before release on video in 2
1999 Had a featured role as a neighborhood drug dealer in Barry Levinson's Baltimore-set feature "Liberty Heights"
1999 Appeared in a series of TV commercials for 7-Up
1999 Had featured role in the ensemble drama "Magnolia", Paul Thomas Anderson's highly anticipated follow-up to "Boogie Nights"; part ended up on the cutting room floor
1998 Did voice work with a guest role on the Fox animated series "King of the Hill"
1998 Appeared in the feature films "Sour Grapes" (as a homeless man) and "Woo"
1994 Co-hosted the FX network daily music magazine series "Sound fX"
1992 Had a guest role as a cop on an episode of "Herman's Head"
Raised in South Carolina
Was a writer and story editor for the NBC comedy series "A Different World"
Was a writer and executive story editor for the Fox sitcom "Roc"
Worked as co-producer, writer and executive story editor on the Fox series "The Sinbad Show"
Was a regular on the ensemble sketch comedy series "Mad TV" (Fox)
