Orlando Jones

Orlando Jones (born April 10, 1968) is an American comedian and film and television actor. Jones is most notable for being one of the original cast members of the sketch comedy series MADtv and for his role as the 7 Up spokesman from 1999 to 2002.

Biography

Orlando Jones was born on April 10, 1968 in Mobile, Alabama. His father was a former professional baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies. He then moved to Mauldin, South Carolina when he was young. He graduated from High School while in Mauldin, in 1985. Jones then enrolled in the College of Charleston, South Carolina, and received his degree in 1990.

In an effort to pursue his interest in the entertainment industry, Orlando Jones set up his own production company named Homeboy's Productions and Advertising. Soon after, he scored his first Hollywood job in 1987, writing for the NBC comedy A Different World. In 1991 and 1992, Jones penned the FOX's series Roc and, in 1993, he co-produced The Sinbad Show. He also made a quick appearance on the FOX sitcom Herman's Head in 1992.

Career

MADtv

File:DennisJones.JPG

Orlando Jones as Dennis Rodman on MADtv.

After hosting Fox's music series Sound FX, in 1994, Jones became one of the original nine cast members of MADtv. Unlike some of his fellow original repertory performers on MADtv, Jones came to the show with limited sketch comedy experience. However, his comedy writing and television producing skills proved very valuable to the early success of the show.

Throughout Seasons one and two of MADtv, Jones constantly produced funny characters like the Cabana Chat band leader Dexter St. Croix and Reverend LaMont Nixon Fatback, the vocal follower of Louis Farrakhan. He was also noted for his impressions of various people as Dennis Rodman, O.J. Simpson, Samuel L. Jackson, and Snoop Dogg.

Characters

Dexter St. Croix (Cabana Chat)
Reverend LaMont Nixon Fatback

Impressions

After two seasons on MADtv, Jones left the show at the end of its second season to pursue a movie career. However, Jones returned to MADtv, in 2004, to celebrate its 200th episode. Jones appeared in the opening video "Hey MAD!" where he lampooned Andre 3000. With his guest appearance, Jones became the third (out of five) original cast member to return as a guest on the show. The other original cast members, who have returned, include: Nicole Sullivan, Phil LaMarr, Artie Lange and Debra Wilson.

During his time at MADtv, he roomed with Artie Lange, now a co-host on the Howard Stern Show. Orlando wouldn't allow Artie into the apartment if Artie had cocaine on his person. He was, however, according to Artie, very supportive and influential in helping to save Artie's life. Nicole Sullivan and David Herman of MADtv were also involved in the intervention (informing police and the show of his cocaine problem) of Artie Lange. This information was revealed on the June 12, 2006 episode of the Howard Stern Show on Sirius Satellite Radio by Artie Lange. Christa Miller, of the Drew Carey Show, was a roommate of Nicole Sullivan's at the time. Her appearance on the Howard Stern Show prompted Artie to reveal this information.

File:Orlando JonesShow.jpg

Orlando Jones interviewing Eric Close on The Orlando Jones Show in 2003.

Other television projects

Aside from MADtv, Jones made many other television appearances. Perhaps his most popular and enduring telvision appearance was not in the form of a sitcom or television drama, but rather in a series of humerous commercials for a soda company. In 2000, Jones became the spokesperson for 7 Up and he gained wide recognition.

This exposure led to a plethora of opportunities for Jones. First, he hosted an HBO First Look special in 2000 and then, in 2003, Jones was given his own late night talk show on FX called The Orlando Jones Show. Although his talk show was short lived, Jones continued to made additional television appearances. In 2003, He appeared on the The Bernie Mac Show and on Girlfriends. In 2006, Jones decided to return to television as one of the lead characters of ABC's crime drama The Evidence, as Cayman Bishop.

In the first season of the show, Jones also starred on Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out. Jones was the first guest star on the show.

Film projects

File:Orlando Jones.PNG

Jones in Evolution

After leaving MADtv, Jones expanded his cinema resume. He appeared in a bit part in his first big screen film, In Harm's Way (1997), Jones then joined Larry David in the feature Sour Grapes (1998), playing the character of an itinerant man. Subsequently, he appeared in Woo (1998), Mike Judge's first film Office Space (1999), along side fellow MADtv alumnus David Herman, and in Barry Levinson's praised drama, Liberty Heights (1999). Since then, Jones has appeared in Magnolia (1999), New Jersey Turnpikes (1999) and in Harold Ramis' Bedazzled (2000).

During the 2000s, Jones' career began to branch out. In addition to his witty appearances in the 7-Up campaigns, Jones played the role of Clifford Franklin in The Replacements (2000) and he appeared in the comedy Chain of Fools (2000) and the horror film From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000). In 2001, Jones landed the role of Daryl Chase in the action-comedy Double Take (2001) alongside Eddie Griffin and worked with David Duchovny and Julianne Moore in Ivan Reitman's sci-fi comedy, Evolution (2001). Jones was also in the 2002 film Drumline alongside Nick Cannon and Zoe Saldana and he appeared as the computer Vox in The Time Machine (2002). His other more recent films includes Biker Boyz (2003), Runaway Jury (2003) and House of D (2004).

Voice acting projects

Jones has been featured in many voice acting projects over the years. In 1993, Jones appeared in Yuletide in the 'hood and in 1998, he made a guest appearance in the animated comedy TV Series, King of the Hill. More recently, he lent his voice to the TV series Father of the Pride and the virtual games Halo 2 as the marine Sergeant Banks as well as other black marines and L.A. Rush. Jones is recently reported to be starring in the ABC's crime-drama Evidence with Oscar winner Martin Landau. In 2006, he co-created, produced and voice acted for the MTV2 animated series The Adventures of Chico and Guapo.

Trivia

Even though he was the original spokesman for "Make 7 Up Yours," he didn't want to do those commercials at all.^{[citation needed]}
He is one out of seven of the original MADtv cast members to engage in some form of voice work after leaving the show. Only Bryan Callen and Craig Anton have not appeared in voice acting projects.
He appeared on the very first episode of Nick Cannon's Wild 'N Out.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
2006	The Adventures of Beatle Boyin	Dr. Vanderark
2006	Looking for Sunday	Einstein Steinberg
2004	House of D	Superfly
2003	Runaway Jury	Russell
2003	Biker Boyz	Soul Train
2002	Drumline	Dr. Lee
2002	The Time Machine	Vox
2001	Unbakeable	Elijah Price
2001	Evolution	Prof. Harry Phineas Block
2001	Say It Isn't So	Dig McCaffrey
2001	Double Take	Daryl Chase
2000	Bedazzled	Daniel/Dan/Danny, Esteban, Beach Jock, Lamar Garrett, Dr.
2000	Chain of Fools	Miss Cocoa
2000	The Replacements	Clifford Franklin
2000	From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter	Ezra Traylor
1999	Magnolia	Worm
1999	Liberty Heights	Little Melvin
1999	Office Space	Steve, Magazine Salesman
1999	New Jersey Turnpikes
1999	Waterproof	Natty Battle
1998	Woo	Sticky Fingas
1997	In Harm's Way	Andre
1997	Sour Grapes	Bum

Television

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
2006	The Evidence (TV series)	Cayman Bishop
2003	The Bernie Mac Show	Party Planner
2003	The Orlando Jones Show	Himself	Host
2003	Girlfriends	Dr. Darren Lucas
2000	HBO First Look	Himself	Host
1995 - 1997	MADtv	Various Characters	Sketch Comedy
1994 - 1995	Sound fX	Himself	Host
1992	A Different World	Troy Douglas
1992	Herman's Head	Other Woman

Voice acting and video game appearances

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
2006	The Adventures of Chico and Guapo	Chico, Guapo	Animated Comedy TV Series
2005	L.A. Rush	Ty Malix	Video Game
2004	Father of the Pride	Snack	TV Series
2004	Halo 2	Marine Sergeant Banks	Video Game
1997	King of the Hill	Kidd Mookie	Animated Comedy TV Series
1993	Yuletide in the 'hood		TV Series

External link

Orlando Jones at IMDb