Leilani Jones

Leilani Jones Wilmore, born May 14, 1957, in Oahu, Hawaii, is an American actress whose Broadway career spanned from 1979 to 1990. The eldest of three children, Jones grew up in a household shaped by her father's career as an Air Force officer and her mother's work as an English teacher. She attended a private preparatory school before enrolling at the University of Hawaii.

Jones began her professional stage career originating the role of Chiffon at the WPA Theater in the original production of Little Shop of Horrors. When the show transferred Off Broadway to the Orpheum Theater, Marlene Danielle stepped into the role briefly before Jones resumed the part, which she continued to perform for three additional years. Her total tenure in the role spanned five years, and she recorded the character on the original cast album, released in 1982 on the Decca U.S. label.

Her Broadway work included appearances in West Side Story, Ain't Misbehavin', and Jerome Robbins' Broadway. The role that defined her Broadway career, however, was Satin, a stripper at a Chicago burlesque house, in the original Broadway production of Grind. Her performance earned her the 1985 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, the 1985 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, and a Theatre World Award the same year. The original Broadway cast recording of Grind was released in 1985 on LP.

Following her departure from Grind, Jones married writer, actor, and television producer Larry Wilmore, after which she took on smaller roles in film and television. She also pursued voiceover work, providing the voice of the Voodoo Lady in the Monkey Island video game series and the voice of the computer in Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, as well as serving as narrator for descriptive video service segments for various television programs and films. Jones and Wilmore later divorced. In 2005, she returned to the role of Chiffon in New York at a Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS fundraiser. Jones currently resides in San Marino, California, with her two children.