Jill Marie Jones
Jones in 2018
Born (1975-01-04) January 4, 1975
Dallas, Texas, USA
Occupation(s)Actress, dancer
Years active1999–present

Jill Marie Jones (born January 4, 1975) is an American actress and former professional dancer and cheerleader. Jones is best known for her role as Antoinette "Toni" Childs-Garrett on the UPN comedy series, Girlfriends (2000–2006). Jones has appeared in a number of films, and had the recurring role as Cynthia Irving on the Fox supernatural series, Sleepy Hollow (2013–15). From 2015 to 2016, she starred as Amanda Fisher in the Starz horror-comedy series, Ash vs Evil Dead.

Early life

Jones was born in Dallas, Texas. After attending Duncanville High School, and Texas Woman's University, Jones was a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader for two years, a Dallas Mavericks Dancer for one year, and toured with the United Service Organization (USO) and United States Department of Defense to Korea, Japan, Israel, and Egypt. She has also performed on Monday Night Football and "The Miss Texas Pageant." She started her career as a model, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting full-time.[1]

Career

Left to right: Jones with Mara Brock Akil, Persia White, Golden Brooks and Tracee Ellis Ross in 2013.

Jones made her screen debut in 2000, on the Saturday morning series City Guys. Later that year, she won the co-leading role alongside Tracee Ellis Ross, Golden Brooks and Persia White on the UPN comedy series, Girlfriends which was created by Mara Brock Akil. She played the role of self-centered and materialistic Toni Childs for six seasons of the series. In May 2006, it was confirmed that Jones left Girlfriends because her contract ended.[2] When asked in a 2007 interview whether she felt the character of Toni Childs had run its course, Jones responded: "No, I think if Toni came back and when I say no, I say it because there are brilliant writers on ‘Girlfriends’. There is so much more that you can do. For me and my career, my contract was up after six seasons and there's a whole film world that I wanted to experience and that's what I’ve been doing. I think if Toni came back to the show, there would be so much more to write and much more to bring. That's a testament to how great Mara and the rest of the writers are".[3]

After leaving Girlfriends, Jones began starring in films. She had the female leading roles in comedy films Universal Remote and Redrum (both 2007), and appeared in The Perfect Holiday, opposite Queen Latifah and Terrence Howard as well as Morris Chestnut, Rachel True, and Gabrielle Union. In August 2007, Jones filmed Major Movie Star with Jessica Simpson.[4] In September 2008, she appeared in the Ne-Yo video for "She Got Her Own" which is a remix to his hit single "Miss Independent". She next appeared in the 2010 music video "Got Your Back" starring T.I. ft. Keri Hilson. Jones also co-starred alongside Laura Harring in the 2009 independent film Drool.[5]

In 2010, Jones was cast in the leading role in the TBS micro-series, Gillian in Georgia. In 2013, she appeared on the second season of FX series, American Horror Story in the episode "Spilt Milk" as a call girl named Pandora. Later that year, Jones was cast in the recurring role as Cynthia Irving in the Fox supernatural drama series, Sleepy Hollow.[6] In February 2015, Starz announced that Jones was cast in a leading role as Michigan State Trooper Amanda Fisher in the comedy horror series Ash vs Evil Dead.[7][8] In 2018, Jones began starring and producing the Urban Movie Channel drama series Monogamy.[9] In 2019, she reunited with her Girlfriends co-stars Tracee Ellis Ross, Golden Brooks and Persia White in an episode of Ross's ABC comedy series Black-ish.[10][11]

In 2021, Jones was cast in the Oprah Winfrey Network legal drama series Delilah created by Craig Wright.[12] The show was canceled after single season. She had a supporting role in the period romantic drama film Charming the Hearts of Men later that year. In 2023 she had a recurring role in the Showtime drama series, The Chi.[13]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Redrum Tonya
2007 Universal Remote Mary Sciary
2007 The Perfect Holiday Robin
2008 Major Movie Star Private Connie Johnson Also known as Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous
2008 The Longshots Ronnie Macer
2009 Drool Imogene Cochran
2010 Meeting Spencer Nikki Ross
2011 35 and Ticking Coco
2014 Men, Money & Gold Diggers Dedra Direct-to-video
2014 Hear No Evil Kate
2018 Boo! Elyse
2021 Charming the Hearts of Men Viola

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2000 City Guys Cheerleader Captain Episode: "Shock Treatment"
2000–2006 Girlfriends Antoinette 'Toni' Marie Childs Garrett 137 Episodes
Nominated—BET Comedy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
2010 Gillian in Georgia Gillian 10 episodes
2012 American Horror Story: Asylum Pandora Episode: "Spilt Milk"
2013–2015 Sleepy Hollow Cynthia Irving 6 episodes
2015–2016 Ash vs Evil Dead Amanda Fisher 10 episodes
2018–present Monogamy Maggie Series regular, also Executive producer
2019 Black-ish Tina Episode: "Feminisn't"
2021 Delilah Tamara Roberts Series regular, 8 episodes
2023 The Neighborhood Zenay Episode: "Welcome to the New Do"
2023 The Chi Bianca Episodes: "ReUp" and "One of Them Nights"

References

  1. ↑ Nathan Southern (2014). "Jill Marie Jones - Biography - Movies & TV - NYTimes.com". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 April 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "December 2007 | blackfilm.com | features | THE PERFECT HOLIDAY | An Interview with Jill Marie Jones". www.blackfilm.com. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  3. ↑ Morales, Wilson (December 18, 2007). "The Perfect Holiday: An Interview with Jill Marie Jones". Black Film. Retrieved March 27, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Black News, Entertainment, Style and Culture - HuffPost Black Voices". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "Drool". Rotten Tomatoes. 22 January 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  6. ↑ Philiana Ng (22 October 2013). "'Sleepy Hollow': Jill Marie Jones Joins Season 1 - The Hollywood Reporter". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  7. ↑ Hipes, Patrick; "Jill Marie Jones To Co-Star In Starz’s ‘Ash Vs. Evil Dead’", Deadline Hollywood, 19 February 2015 (retrieved 19 February 2015).
  8. ↑ Tambay A. Obenson (19 February 2015). "Jill Marie Jones Scores Female Lead Role in Starz Original - Shadow and Act". Shadow and Act. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  9. ↑ "Jill Marie Jones Loves Playing Crazy Characters". 6 December 2020.
  10. ↑ Ramos, Dino-Ray (September 16, 2019). "ABC Reunites Cast Members From TV And Film With "Cast From The Past" Week".
  11. ↑ "Tracee Ellis Ross to Reunite With 'Girlfriends' Cast on 'Black-ish'". September 12, 2019.
  12. ↑ Petski, Nellie Andreeva,Denise; Andreeva, Nellie; Petski, Denise (August 26, 2020). "OWN Orders Drama Series 'Delilah' From 'Greenleaf' Creator Craig Wright With Maahra Hill Cast In Title Role".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ Cobb, Kayla (August 16, 2023). "'The Chi' Casts Jill Marie Jones of 'Girlfriends' Fame as Guest Star".
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