Leslie Jones (comedian) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Leslie Jones |
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Jones at the Stress Factory in 2018
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| Birth name | Annette Leslie Jones |
| Born | September 7, 1967 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
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| Education | Chapman University Colorado State University |
| Years active | 1987–present |
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| Notable works and roles | Former Saturday Night Live cast member and writer Ghostbusters (2016) Coming 2 America (2021) Good Burger 2 (2023) |
Annette Leslie Jones (born September 7, 1967) is a talented American comedian and actress. She is well-known for her time as a cast member and writer on the popular NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 2014 to 2019. Leslie Jones also hosted the fun ABC game show Supermarket Sweep. She has performed at major comedy festivals like Just for Laughs in Montreal and the Aspen Comedy Festival. In 2010, her comedy special, Problem Child, was shown on Showtime. Jones also starred in the 2016 movie Ghostbusters as Patty Tolan. Her amazing work on Saturday Night Live earned her nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in both 2017 and 2018.
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Early Life and Education
Leslie Jones was born on September 7, 1967, in Memphis, Tennessee. Her father was in the United States Army, so her family moved around a lot. They eventually settled in Los Angeles when her father started working as an electronics engineer at Stevie Wonder's radio station, KJLH.
Jones went to high school in Lynwood, California. She was quite tall, and her father encouraged her to play basketball. This led her to attend Chapman University on a basketball scholarship. While there, she explored different interests, including working as a disc jockey at the student radio station, KNAB. She even thought about playing professional basketball overseas.
In 1986, her basketball coach moved to Colorado State University, and Jones followed him. At Colorado State, she changed her major several times, studying things like accounting and computer science, before finally choosing communications.
Comedy Career Highlights
Starting in Stand-Up Comedy
Leslie Jones began her journey in stand-up comedy in 1987 while still in college. A friend signed her up for a "Funniest Person on Campus" contest, which she won! After this success, Jones moved to Los Angeles to pursue comedy. She performed at various comedy clubs and worked day jobs at places like Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles and UPS to support herself.
Other comedians like Mother Love and Dave Chappelle encouraged her to move to New York City to improve her comedy skills. She lived there for over two years, appearing on BET's ComicView, before returning to Los Angeles. She performed at The Comedy Store in West Hollywood. Later, she toured as an opening act for Jamie Foxx. Foxx gave her advice to "live life for a little while" to gain more experiences for her comedy. Jones took a break from performing for three years. She then returned to smaller clubs and eventually secured prime-time slots at The Comedy Store in 2010.
In 2012, famous comedian Chris Rock saw her perform. He was very impressed and helped her get an audition for Saturday Night Live the following year, which she successfully landed.
Joining Saturday Night Live
In December 2013, Saturday Night Live held auditions to add new cast members. Leslie Jones tried out and was hired as a writer for the show. She first appeared on screen during the "Weekend Update" segment of the May 3, 2014, episode.
On October 20, 2014, Jones was promoted to a full cast member, making her official debut on October 25, 2014. At 47 years old, she became the oldest person to join SNL as a cast member. Her addition was a big moment for SNL history, as it was the first time the show had more than one African American woman in its cast. The 40th season also had five African American cast members, which was a new record. Jones continued to be a popular cast member for several seasons, including 41, 42 (where she became a repertory player), 43, and 44.
Her work on SNL was highly praised, leading to her nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2017 and 2018. The 44th season was her last on SNL.
Film and Television Appearances
Film Roles
Leslie Jones has appeared in many films. In 2014, she was in Chris Rock's movie, Top Five. Chris Rock even mentioned that he wanted to see more of Leslie Jones in a follow-up film because she "really shine[d]" in Top Five.
In 2015, she appeared in the film Trainwreck, a project by Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer. It's said that Apatow and Schumer wrote a part specifically for Jones after seeing her performance in Top Five.
A major role for Jones came in 2016 when she starred in the Ghostbusters reboot. She played Patty Tolan, alongside Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, and Kate McKinnon.
More recently, Jones appeared in Coming 2 America (2021), a sequel to Coming to America, starring Eddie Murphy. She also starred in Good Burger 2 in 2023. Since 2017, she has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which is the group that gives out the Oscars!
Television Roles and Hosting
Beyond Saturday Night Live, Leslie Jones has been busy on television. She hosted the 2017 BET Awards on June 25, 2017, which was her first time hosting a major awards show.
In 2020, Jones became the host of a new version of the game show Supermarket Sweep, returning for a second season in 2021. She also hosted the 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards.
Jones has also had roles in other TV shows, including The Blacklist (2016), Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (2018), and Our Flag Means Death (2022–2023). In 2023 and 2024, she was a guest host for several episodes of The Daily Show.
Olympics Coverage
During the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Leslie Jones became famous for her enthusiastic live-tweeting and video reactions to the events. People loved her commentary so much that articles appeared saying, "Watching Leslie Jones Watch The Olympics Is Better Than the Actual Olympics."
A television producer saw her tweets and suggested to Jim Bell, the executive producer of NBC's Olympics coverage, that Jones should join their team. Bell agreed, and Jones flew to Rio de Janeiro to cover events like swimming, track and field, gymnastics, and beach volleyball for NBC.
Jones continued her role at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. She also live-tweeted for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, which were postponed to 2021. Her final live-tweeting for the Olympics was for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.
Comedic Influences
Leslie Jones has shared that several famous comedians and actors have inspired her work. These include Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Carol Burnett, Lucille Ball, John Ritter, and Whoopi Goldberg.
Personal Life
Leslie Jones is a big fan of the soccer team Seattle Sounders FC. She also loves the reality competition show RuPaul's Drag Race.
Online Support
After the movie Ghostbusters was released in July 2016, Leslie Jones faced a lot of negative comments online. Many people, including fans and celebrities, showed their support for her using hashtags like #LoveForLeslieJ on social media.
Jones discussed the situation on Late Night with Seth Meyers, where she met with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. She explained that hate speech and freedom of speech are different things. When her personal website was later affected by online attacks, there was another huge outpouring of support for her. Celebrities like Paul Feig, Gabourey Sidibe, Ellen DeGeneres, Hillary Clinton, and Katy Perry voiced their support. Jones later addressed these events on Saturday Night Live.
Images for kids
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Jones at The Stress Factory in 2018
