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Ron Cephas Jones, a veteran stage actor who won two Emmy Awards for his role as a long-lost father who finds redemption on the NBC television drama series “This Is Us,” has died at age 66, a representative said Saturday.
Jones’ manager, Dan Spilo, said in an emailed statement the actor died “due to a long-standing pulmonary issue.”
«Throughout the course of his career, his warmth, beauty, generosity, kindness and heart were felt by anyone who had the good fortune of knowing him,» Spilo said.
Jones had a double lung transplant in 2020 because of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and spent nearly two months in a Los Angeles hospital.
On «This Is Us,» Jones played William «Shakespeare» Hill, a biological father whose life is renewed through his relationship with the family of his son Randall Pearson, played by Sterling K. Brown.
«One of the most wonderful people the world has ever seen is no longer with us,» Brown said in an Instagram post after Jones’ death. :The world is a little less bright. Brother, you are loved. And you will be missed.»
Jones played a more central role in the series’ early seasons but appeared in some form in all six seasons of the show, which included time-jumping narratives offering recurring opportunities for its actors even after their characters’ deaths.
