Biography
Peter Lawson Jones, who can most recently be seen in A Man Called Otto, with Tom Hanks, is a member of both Actors' Equity and SAG-AFTRA. He has appeared in over twenty films (White Boy Rick, Alex Cross, The Assassin's Code, Starve), on network television (NBC's Chicago Fire as a guest star and ABC's Detroit 1-8-7), in national commercials for Marathon Oil and Kia and on stages throughout Northeast Ohio. A playwright, his drama, The Bloodless Jungle, received two full productions at Ensemble Theatre (Cleveland Heights) and staged readings at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Dallas Convention Center, National Black Theatre Festival, Duquesne University and in Harlem. Land of Cleve, a regional arts and culture blog, ranked the play's 2017 production among the best in Northeast Ohio that year. His most recent work, The Phoenix Society, which successfully premiered last year at Playwrights Local in Cleveland, Ohio, will enjoy its second production this spring at the Rainey Institute, also in Cleveland. The drama was commissioned by the Life Exchange Center, a nonprofit agency that assists those recovering from mental health and substance abuse challenges. His first play, The Family Line, has been produced at Karamu, Ohio University and Harvard University, where he received his bachelor's and law degrees. Peter received the 2016 Indie Gathering International Film Festival Best Ohio Supporting Actor and the 2012 African American Playwrights Exchange Artist of the Year awards. In addition to being an actor and dramatist, Peter is a lawyer, consultant, acting instructor and former elected official.
