This Is Us stars and show bosses have publicly paid their respects to late co-star Ron Cephas Jones, who died on Saturday (August 19) at the age of 66.
Jones was best known for playing the role of William Hill on the hit NBC show, the biological father of Randall Pearson.
The actor earned a Screen Actors Guild Award and won two Outstanding Guest Actor Emmy Awards for his This Is Us role, which he portrayed in multiple episodes over the show's six-year run.
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Sterling K Brown, who played Randall, was one of many Pearson family members to share tributes to Jones, with colleagues Mandy Moore, Chrissy Metz, Susan Kelechi Wilson and more also marking his passing online.
"Life imitated art today, and one of the most wonderful people the world has ever seen is no longer with us," began Brown's Instagram caption, shared alongside a photo of him and Jones in character as father and son.
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"@cephasjaz has passed away, and the world is a little less bright. Brother, you are loved. And you will be missed. Keep them laughing in the next phase of existence, and I’ll see you when I get there."
Mandy Moore, who played the show's matriarch Rebecca Pearson, called Jones "pure magic as a human and an artist" in her tribute post.
Posting a photo on Instagram from the show's finale scene where Rebecca and William shared the screen, she added: "I will treasure all of the moments forever."
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Susan Kelechi Wilson, who played Randall's on-screen wife Beth Pearson, dedicated an Instagram post to Jones, uploading several photos of the two together from their This Is Us days.
Wilson recalled the "instant gravitation" she had towards her "friend" and shared her condolences to his daughter Jasmine following the news.
"What a blessing in this life to have a friend called You. You LOVED being an actor, an artist, a forever student of life," she wrote. "But I knew you to love nothing more than Jasmine. My heart goes out to you @jazzy_joness. You were the music to his soul. His Jaz. His jazz. His jazz."
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Chrissy Metz, who played Kate Pearson, shared a collage of photos to Instagram and her thanks at being "changed by your kind heart, amazing spirit, immeasurable talent and beautiful smile".
She signed her tribute off, by calling Jones "truly the coolest cat".
Metz's on-screen ex-husband Chris Sullivan, who played Toby, was another This Is Us star to respond to Jones's passing online.
"I cannot believe he is gone," he wrote on Twitter. "It doesn’t seem possible. He was such a generous and compassionate heart. I am so grateful for the time we spent together. #RIPRCJ."
In a separate tribute, actor Jon Huertas, who portrayed Miguel Rivas on the series, remembered Jones as "one of the most talented and warm men I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with".
It was Jones' talent that struck a chord with This Is Us show writer Dan Fogelman, who fondly declared him as "the best of the best".
"I don’t think I ever changed a single take of his in a cut… because everything he did was perfect…," he wrote on Twitter.
A representative for the actor confirmed to People that Jones died following "a long-standing pulmonary issue".
"Ron's inner-beauty and soul was evident to the huge audience from his multi-Emmy award winning performance on This Is Us," the statement read. "He is is survived by his daughter Jasmine Cephas Jones."
Emily is an experienced freelance entertainment writer and editor, reporting on all things TV, film, soaps and showbiz. An NCTJ-qualified journalist, with a First Class Honours degree in Journalism from the University of Sussex, Emily is a former Deputy News Editor and Evening News Editor at Digital Spy. She has previously worked at Hello magazine, BBC South News and GoodtoKnow.
A small and big-screen obsessive – with subscriptions to every TV and film service under the sun – Emily knows her movie stars from soap stars, and is always clued up on the latest reality show dumping, just-dropped trailer or off-screen spat. She's interviewed a number of celebrities over the years, with highlights including The Masked Singer host Joel Dommett and GMB's Kate Garraway (who "loved" her trousers).
Emily counts Sharon Horgan and Julia Davis as her TV heroes, and is a loyal Wes Anderson fan. LinkedIn
