Leon Preston Robinson (born March 8, 1962), usually credited as simply Leon, is an American actor and singer who began his professional career 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 and Musician David Ruffin in the 1998 ABC Mini-Series and "The Temptations" Little Richard in the 2000 film Little Richard.
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.
Theater
In theater, Leon has headlined three national tours, with sold-out performances at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, NYC's Beacon Theatre, Detroit's Fox Theater, Washington, DC's Warner Theater. These tours were of Friends and Lovers (2005), based on Eric Jerome Dickey's New York Times bestselling book; of 3 Ways to Get A Husband (2009 and 2010), as a soldier returning from Iraq, co-starring Billy Dee Williams; and the revival of Why Do Good Girls Like Bad Boys (2012).
Music
Leon is the lead vocalist and songwriter of the band Leon and the Peoples. In 2007, he received an International Reggae and World Music Award nomination for the band's debut CD, The Road Less Traveled. He won Best International Artist at the Joe Higgs Reggae Awards. He completed a 36 city US tour with reggae greats Beres Hammond and Marcia Griffiths, titled the "For The Love Of It Tour". He was a frequent guest on Beres Hammond's 2008 and 2010 North American tours. He headlined NYC's Central Park 2010 and 2013 AIDS Walk concerts. Other performances include the 2011 Aspen Jazz Festival, 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.
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 Billboard's Hot Singles Chart, and the next single, "Beautiful" appearing on the same chart at No. 12.
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