Leilani Jones Wilmore (born May 14, 1957) is an American actress.
Life and career
Jones was born in
Oahu, Hawaii
Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O’ ...
. She originated the role of Chiffon at the WPA Theater in the original cast of ''
Little Shop of Horrors''. Marlene Danielle replaced her for a few weeks when the show opened Off Broadway at the Orpheum Theater. Jones resumed her role at that time and played the part for three more years. Jones also recorded the role on the original cast recording. Jones next went on to play the role of Satin, a stripper at a Chicago burlesque house, in the original
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
production of ''
Grind
A blade's grind is its cross-sectional shape in a plane normal to the edge. Grind differs from blade profile, which is the blade's cross-sectional shape in the plane containing the blade's edge and the centre contour of the blade's back ( ...
''. Jones won a Tony as
Best Featured Actress in a Musical and a
Drama Desk Award for her performance.
After leaving ''Grind'', Jones married writer, actor and television producer
Larry Wilmore
Elister Larry WilmoreThe name Elister L. Wilmore is given at This matches the birth date and birthplace for "Larry Wilmore" at (born October 30, 1961) is an American comedian, writer, producer, and actor. He served as the "Senior Black Corresp ...
and her career slowed down considerably, as she appeared only in small roles in a few movies and television shows and did voice over work for video games, most notably portraying the voice performance of the
Voodoo Lady
The ''Voodoo Lady'' is an extended play (EP) by American rock band Ween, released in the United Kingdom in January 1995 on Flying Nun Records. It appears on their fourth studio album, ''Chocolate and Cheese'' (1994).
Song information
The tit ...
in the popular video games series of ''
Monkey Island
''Monkey Island'' is a series of adventure games. The first four games in the series were produced and published by LucasArts, earlier known as Lucasfilm Games. The fifth installment of the franchise was developed by Telltale Games in collabor ...
'', the voice of the computer in ''
Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?'', as well as descriptive video service audio tracks for television shows and films. In 2005, Jones reprised her role of Chiffon in New York at a ''Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS'' fundraiser. Jones currently lives in
San Marino, California
San Marino is a residential city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It was incorporated on April 25, 1913. At the 2010 census the population was 13,147. The city is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of househo ...
with her two children. She and Wilmore divorced during his move to New York to become a host on
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video Games
Discography
* ''
Little Shop of Horrors'': Original Cast Album, 1982 Decca U.S. Label
* ''
Grind
A blade's grind is its cross-sectional shape in a plane normal to the edge. Grind differs from blade profile, which is the blade's cross-sectional shape in the plane containing the blade's edge and the centre contour of the blade's back ( ...
'': Original Broadway Cast, 1985 on the LP Record Label
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Leilani
1957 births
Actresses from Hawaii
American stage actresses
American television actresses
American video game actresses
Drama Desk Award winners
Living people
Native Hawaiian actresses
People from Oahu
Tony Award winners
People from San Marino, California
21st-century American actresses
20th-century American actresses