fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Leon Preston Robinson, usually credited as simply Leon, (born March 8, 1962) is an American actor and singer, who began his professional career as a film actor in the early 1980s. Robinson is best known for his roles as David Ruffin in the TV film The Temptations (1998), J.T. Matthews in the 1991 Robert Townsend film The Five Heartbeats, Derice Bannock in the 1993 film Cool Runnings, Shep in the 1994 basketball drama film Above the Rim, and Little Richard in the 2000 film Little Richard.

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (March 2013)

Leon Robinson
Leon, 2010.
Born	Leon Preston Robinson (1962-03-08) March 8, 1962 (age 60)[1] New York City, New York, U.S.
Other names	Leon
Occupation	Actor, singer, producer
Years active	1982–present
Partner(s)	Cynthia Bailey (ex-fiancé), Ebony McIver, Patricia Blanchet (current)
Children	Noelle Robinson

Career

This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (September 2014)

Robinson appeared in a 1989 episode of the NBC series Midnight Caller, in which he played an athlete who falls victim to crack cocaine. He also co-starred in the 1989 ABC miniseries The Women of Brewster Place, as the boyfriend of a suburbanite (played by Robin Givens). He was cast as Saint Martin de Porres in Madonna's controversial 1989 music video "Like a Prayer".

Robinson's early film roles included a football teammate of Tom Cruise in All the Right Moves (1983) as Shadow Nading, and the Notre Dame-bound basketball playing co-worker of Matt Dillon, in The Flamingo Kid (1984).[2] He co-starred in the Michael Mann-produced Tri-Star Pictures film Band of the Hand, as well as the "Killer Bee" in the Dennis Hopper-directed gang film Colors, starring Sean Penn and Robert Duvall. After his exposure in the 1989 video for the song "Like a Prayer" by Madonna, he played a leading role in the 1993 Disney film Cool Runnings. That same year, he co-starred as John Lithgow's henchman in Renny Harlin's Cliffhanger and followed with a turn as a disillusioned ex-jock in New Line Cinema's Above the Rim (1994). Robinson also appeared as Lela Rochon's the married lover in 1995's Waiting to Exhale directed by Forest Whitaker and starring Whitney Houston and a starring role in the Merchant/Ivory produced movie, Side Streets with Rosario Dawson. He produced as well as starred in the 1997 romantic drama The Price of Kissing with TV star Pauley Perrette. He also starred in the movie Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored, directed by Tim Reid and winner of Best Picture at the NAACP Image Awards.

Robinson has received critical acclaim^{[by whom?]} for his portrayal of three singers: David Ruffin in the 1998 NBC miniseries The Temptations, Little Richard in the self-titled 2000 NBC movie biography, and JT in the 20th Century Fox movie, The Five Heartbeats directed by Robert Townsend. He received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Little Richard. During this period, Robinson joined the ensemble cast of two TV series, playing the popular Jefferson Keane on HBO's first series, Oz and as Lawrence Hill on Showtime's Resurrection Blvd., a costarring role as "Stoney" best friend of Joaquin Phoenix in Miramax' military drama Buffalo Soldiers, an uncredited role as "Joseph 13 X" in Michael Mann's award-winning biopic, Ali starring Will Smith, in addition to briefly hosting his own late-night talk show, The L-Bow Room, on BET.

In 2008, Robinson starred in the 20th Century Fox thriller Cover, directed by Bill Duke, and starred alongside Danny Masterson and Dominique Swain in the indie comedy The Brooklyn Heist, directed by Julian Mark Kheel. In 2009, AOL Black Voices voted Robinson one of the Sexiest Actors of All-time. Between 2013 and 2014, he appeared in four movies, the romantic comedy I Really Hate My Ex, written and directed by Troy Beyer, the southern drama Soul Ties, based on the book by Tee Austin, the indie rock/drama 37 the romantic drama, And Then There Was You with Garcelle Beauvais. Stars in "40 & single" 2018.

Theater

In theater, Robinson has headlined three national tours, with sold-out performances at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, NYC's Beacon Theater, Detroit's Fox Theater, Washington, DC's Warner Theater and more in Friends and Lovers (2005), based on Eric Jerome Dickey's NY Times bestselling book. In 2009 and 2010 as a soldier returning from Iraq in 3 Ways to Get A Husband co-starring Billy Dee Williams and in 2012, the revival of Why Do Good Girls Like Bad Boys.

Music

Robinson is the lead vocalist and songwriter of the band, Leon & The Peoples, one of NYC's hottest bands. In 2021 they joined LL Cool J, Usher and Alicia Keys on the main stage of the Tom Joyner Star-Studded Fantastic Voyage Cruise as well as headlining stops at the 2022 St.Albans Jazz & R&B Fest, New Jersey's Rocktoberfest and Virginia’s Jazz on the Bluff. Their 2nd album, "Love Is A Beautiful Thing" on Spectra Music label gained nationwide radio play after debuting at #3 on Billboards Hot Singles Sales chart with the title track Love Is A Beautiful Thing and following it up second single “beautiful” also charting on Billboard at #12. They received an International Reggae & World Music Award nomination for the first album "The Road Less Traveled" as well as "WINNER" of Best International Artists at Joe Higgs Reggae Awards.

Leon & The Peoples completed a 38 city North American tour with reggae greats Beres Hammond and Marcia Griffiths titled the "For The Love Of It Tour". Leon was a frequent guest on Beres Hammond's 2008 and 2010 North American tours. He head-lined NYC's Central Park 2010 and 2013 AIDS Walk Concerts. Other performances include the 2011 Aspen Jazz Fest., 2012 Catalpa NYC Music Festival, New Orleans Music Festival, Chicago's Festival Of Life, Reggae on River, Jamaica's Rebel Salute, and BET's popular 106 & Park.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	All the Right Moves	Shadow
1984	Sole Survivor	Gang Leader
	The Flamingo Kid	Fortune Smith
1985	Streetwalkin'	Jason
1986	Band of the Hand	Moss
1987	The Father Clements Story	Ice	TV Movie
1988	The Lawless Land	Road Kill
	Colors	Killer Bee
1989	Flying Blind	Larry Brown	TV Movie
	A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story	Michael Thomas	TV Movie
1990	The Little Richard Story
1991	The Five Heartbeats	J.T. Matthews	TV Movie
1993	Cliffhanger	Kynette
	Cool Runnings	Derice Bannock
	Bad Attitude	Eddie Johnson	TV Movie
1994	Above the Rim	Shep
1995	Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored	Uncle Melvin
	Waiting to Exhale	Russell
1996	Spirit Lost	John
	Pure Danger	Felix	Video
	Bullet Hearts		TV Movie
1997	Runaway Car	Officer Isaiah 'Beau' Beaufort	TV Movie
	B*A*P*S	Leon
	The Price of Kissing	Larry	[3]
1998	Side Streets	Errol Boyce
1999	Friends & Lovers	Tyrell
	Mean Streak	Altman Rogers	TV Movie
	Bats	Jimmy Sands
	Mr. Rock 'n' Roll: The Alan Freed Story	Jackie Wilson
2000	Little Richard	Little Richard	TV Movie
2001	Buffalo Soldiers	Stoney
	Ali	Joe Simmons
2002	Four Faces of God	Jah	Short
2005	Get Rich or Die Tryin'	Slim
2006	The Tested	Curtis	Short
	Ways of the Flesh
2007	Cover	Ryan Chambers
2008	The Brooklyn Heist	Ronald
2009	3 Ways to Get a Husband	Devon	Video
2011	The Heart Specialist	Dr. Lee
2012	From This Day Forward	Deon	TV Movie
2013	Je'Caryous Johnson's Marriage Material	Michael
	Someone to Love	Joshua Gilbert
2014	37	Dr. Koehm
2015	Ex-Free	Sean
	Against the Jab	DJ Mike
	Where Children Play	David Mccain
	Soul Ties	Dale Sr
2016	The Rhythm and the Blues	Eddie Taylor Sr.	Short
2017	The Cheaters Club	James
2018	Make America Black Again	Candidate Johnson	Short
	Her Only Choice	Melvin
	Before You Say I Do Live!	Edward
2020	The Glorias	Frank
	The Sin Choice	Doug Stephens
	Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas	Jasper Penderson	TV Movie
2022	A Day to Die	Tyrone Pettis

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Making the Grade		Episode: "Pilot"
	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Bobby Joe Tucker	Episode: "Journey to Survival"
1987	Houston Knights	Scarecrow	Episode: "Scarecrow"
1989	The Women of Brewster Place	Abshu	TV Mini Series
	Midnight Caller	Nathan 'Skate' Fillmore	Episode: "The Fall"
	Hunter	Iceman	Episode: "Investment in Death"
1990	L.A. Law	Ronald 'Pinto' Sewell	Episode: "Blood, Sweat and Fears"
1995	Central Park West	Gabe Sands	2 Episodes
1997, 2003	Oz	Jefferson Keane	Supporting Cast: Season 1, Guest: Season 6
1997-98	C-16: FBI	Robert Robinson	Recurring Cast
1998	The Temptations	David Ruffin	TV Mini Series
2001	Resurrection Blvd.	Lawrence Hill	Recurring Cast: Season 2
2003	Crossing Jordan	Detective Vicellous Owens	Episode: "Sunset Division"
	Hack	Ulysses Sims	Episode: "To Have and Have Not"
2009-11	Diary of a Single Mom	Lawrence Hill	Recurring Cast
2011	Are We There Yet?	Dr. Harvey Cleveland	Episode: "The Compatibility Test Episode"
	Reed Between the Lines	Don	Episode: "Let's Talk About Affairs"
2015	Life Twirls On	Henry Bryant	Episode: "Pilot"
2016	Recovery Road	Alan	2 Episodes
2018	Rel	Nickels	Episode: "Re-Enter the Dragons"
	40 and Single	Dan Mayor	Main Cast
	A Luv Tale: The Series	George Montgomery	Main Cast
2018-19	Blue Bloods	Cameron Gooding	2 Episodes
2021	City on a Hill	Reverend Isaiah Hughes	Recurring Cast: Season 2
2021	Games People Play	Walter King	Guest Star: Season 2

Music Video

Year	Song	Artist	Role
1989	Like a Prayer	Madonna	Innocent Man/Saint

References

External links

• Leon at IMDb
• Leon's official website

На других языках

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[de] Leon Robinson

Leon Robinson (* 8. März 1962 in New York, NY) ist ein US-amerikanischer Schauspieler. Oftmals tritt er nur unter seinem Vornamen Leon auf.

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- [en] Leon Robinson

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