Actors - Leon Robinson

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	Actors - Leon Robinson

Leon Preston Robinson, IV (born January 25 1962 in The Bronx, New York) is an American actor and singer.

Robinson, usually credited as simply Leon, made his professional debut on the CBS Afternoon Playhouse production "Journey to Survival" in 1981. He became a part of popular music history when he was cast as the martyred Southern black saint in Madonna's controversial 1989 music video "Like a Prayer". Leon first made an impression on movie audiences as Derice Bannock, the exuberant captain of the Jamaican bobsled team in Cool Runnings
in 1993.

Biography

Early life and film career

Leon was born in the Bronx, but raised in the middle class suburb of Mount Vernon. The only son of a transit authority executive and a teacher, Leon migrated to Los Angeles to play basketball for Loyola Marymount University before moving into acting. Early roles included a football teammate of Tom Cruise in All the Right Moves
(1983) and as Fortune Smith, the Notre Dame-bound basketball playing co-worker of Matt Dillon, in The Flamingo Kid
(1984). It was only after his exposure in the Madonna video that Leon's roles became more substantial. He was a member of a singing group trying to give up his womanizing ways while his brother becomes distant in Robert Townsend's The Five Heartbeats
(1991). In 1993, he co-starred as John Lithgow's British henchman out to get Sylvester Stallone in Renny Harlin's Cliffhanger and followed with a turn as a disillusioned ex-jock in Above the Rim
(1994). Leon was also memorable as Lela Rochon's married lover in Waiting to Exhale
(1996) and co-produced as well as co-starred in the romantic drama The Price of Kissing (1997).

Television career

Before striking it on the big screen, Leon amassed numerous small screen credits, notably 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 ghetto boyfriend of a suburbanite (played by Robin Givens). Leon has received critical acclaim for his portrayal of two legendary singers in made-for-TV movies: David Ruffin in the 1998 NBC miniseries The Temptations
and Little Richard in the self-titled 2000 NBC movie based on the life of the rock-and-roll pioneer. He has also had recurring roles on television series such as Oz and Resurrection Blvd. and briefly hosted his own late-night talk show, "The L-Bow Room", on BET.

Leon, who is also a professional singer, is the lead vocalist of his own band, Leon and the Peoples.

Filmography

Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)...Slim
Buffalo Soldiers (2003)...Stoney
Little Richard (2000)...Little Richard
Bats (1999)...Jimmy Sands
Friends and Lovers (1999)...Manny
Side Streets (1999)...Errol Boyce
The Temptations
(1998)...David Ruffin
B.A.P.S. (1997)...Himself
Spirit Lost (1997)...John
Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored (1996)...Uncle Melvin
Pure Danger (1996)...Felix
Waiting to Exhale
(1996)...Russell
Above the Rim
(1994)...Shep
Bad Attitude (1993)
Cliffhanger (1993)...Kynette
Cool Runnings
(1993)...Derice Bannock
The Five Heartbeats
(1991)...J. T. Matthews
The Women of Brewster Place (1989)...Abshu
Colors
(1988)...Killer Bee
The Lawless Land (1988)...Road Kill
The Father Clements Story (1987)...Ice
Band of the Hand (1986)...Moss
The Flamingo Kid
(1984)...Fortune Smith
All the Right Moves
(1983)...Shadow

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Leon Robinson ]

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