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Leon Preston Robinson (born March 8, 1962), usually credited as simply Leon, is an American actor who began professional acting as a film actor in the early 1980s. He is best known for his roles as 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, singer David Ruffin in the 1998 NBC miniseries The Temptations, and Little Richard in the 2000 film Little Richard.
Leon'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). 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). Leon also appeared as Lela Rochon's married lover in 1995's Waiting to Exhale directed by Forest Whitaker and starring Whitney Houston. He had 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.
Leon has received critical acclaim 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. Leon received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Little Richard. During this period, he 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.. He co-starred as "Stoney", best friend of Joaquin Phoenix, in Miramax's military drama Buffalo Soldiers and had an uncredited role as "Joseph 13 X" in Michael Mann's award-winning biopic, Ali, starring Will Smith.
Leon briefly hosted his own late-night talk show, The L-Bow Room, on BET.
In 2008, he starred in the 20th Century Fox thriller Cover, directed by Bill Duke, and starred alongside Danny Masterson and Dominique Swain in the Independent film comedy The Brooklyn Heist, directed by Julian Mark Kheel.
In 2009, AOL Black Voices voted Leon 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; and the romantic drama And Then There Was You with Garcelle Beauvais.
Leon and the Peoples' single "Love Is A Beautiful Thing'" was featured on the BET/Centric TV show Culture List, which premiered on July 21, 2013. The band's second album, Love Is A Beautiful Thing, was released on the Spectra Music label on July 20, 2018, with the title track debuting at No. 3 on Billboards Hot Singles Chart, and the next single, "Beautiful" appearing on the same chart at No. 12.
| 1983 | All the Right Moves | Austin "Shadow" Williams | |
| 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 | |
| 1991 | The Five Heartbeats | J.T. Matthews | |
| 1993 | Cliffhanger | Kynette | |
| Cool Runnings | Derice Bannock | credited as Leon | |
| 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 | |
| 1997 | Runaway Car | Officer Isaiah 'Beau' Beaufort | TV movie |
| B*A*P*S | Leon | ||
| The Price of Kissing | Larry | ||
| 1998 | Side Streets | Errol Boyce | |
| 1999 | Friends & Lovers | Tyrell | |
| Mean Streak | Altman Rogers | TV movie | |
| Bats | Jimmy Sands | ||
| 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 | Dr. Lee | ||
| 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 | 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 |
| Love Had Everything to Do with It | - | ||
| 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 | |
| 2023 | Emerson |
| 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 | Episode: "Part 1 & 2" |
| 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 | Recurring cast: Season 1 |
| 1997 | Oz | Jefferson Keane | Recurring cast: Season 1 |
| 1997–98 | Robert Robinson | Recurring cast | |
| 1998 | The Temptations | David Ruffin | Episode: "Part 1 & 2" |
| 2001 | Resurrection Blvd. | Lawrence Hill | Recurring cast: Season 2 |
| 2003 | Oz | Jefferson Keane | Episode: "Dead Man Talking" |
| Crossing Jordan | Detective Vicellous Owens | Episode: "Sunset Division" | |
| Hack | Ulysses Sims | Episode: "To Have and Have Not" | |
| 2004 | The L-Bow Room | Himself/Host | Main Host |
| Super Secret Movie Rules | Himself | Episode: "Sports Underdogs" | |
| 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" | |
| 2016 | Recovery Road | Alan | Recurring cast |
| 2017 | Unsung Hollywood | Himself | Episode: "Tupac Shakur" |
| 2018 | Rel | Nickels | Episode: "Re-Enter the Dragons" |
| 40 and Single | Dan Mayor | Main cast | |
| 2018–19 | Blue Bloods | Cameron Gooding | Guest cast: Season 9-10 |
| 2021 | A Luv Tale: The Series | George Montgomery | Recurring cast |
| Games People Play | Walter King | Recurring cast: Season 2 | |
| 2021–22 | City on a Hill | Reverend Isaiah Hughes | Recurring cast: Season 2, Guest: Season 3 |
| 2023 | Swarm | Harris | Episode: "Girl, Bye" |
| 2023–24 | The Chi | Alonzo | Recurring role; season 6 |
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