What Is Orlando Jones' Net Worth and Salary?
Orlando Jones is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer who has a net worth of $5 million. Jones began his career as a writer and producer on shows like "A Different World," "Roc," and "The Sinbad Show" in the late '80s and early '90s, and he made a bigger name for himself when he joined the cast of the Fox sketch comedy series "MADtv" (which he also wrote for) in 1995. Orlando was the spokesman for 7 Up from 1999 to 2002, and he played Captain Frank Irving on Fox's "Sleepy Hollow" (2013–2015) and Mr. Nancy on Starz's "American Gods" (2017–2019). Jones has more than 70 acting credits to his name, including the films "Office Space" (1999), "Magnolia" (1999), "The Replacements" (2000), "Evolution" (2001), "Drumline" (2002), "I Think I Love My Wife" (2007), and "The Book of Love" (2016), the miniseries "Madiba" (2017), and the television series "The Evidence" (2006), "Men in Trees" (2007), "Rules of Engagement" (2009), and "LA's Finest" (2020).
Orlando hosted FX's "The Orlando Jones Show" in 2003, and he has lent his voice to animated projects such as "King of the Hill" (1998), "Father of the Pride" (2004–2005), "The Adventures of Chico and Guapo" (2006), and "Black Dynamite" (2012–2015). He created and executive produced "The Orlando Jones Show" and "The Adventures of Chico and Guapo," and he produced "American Gods" as well as "The Sinbad Show" (1993–1994), "Judge Mooney" (2004), "Bufu" (2007), "The Music Lesson" (2009), "Enemies Closer" (2013), "The 5 Powers" (2016), "Planting Seeds of Mindfulness Animated Movie" (2016), and "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands: War Within the Cartel" (2017).
Early Life
Orlando Jones was born Orlando Fernez Jones on April 10, 1968, in Mobile, Alabama. Orlando's father played baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies. Jones moved to Mauldin, South Carolina, as a teenager, and he attended Mauldin High School, graduating in 1985. As a high school student, he played a werewolf in a haunted house to raise funds for the junior/senior prom, and he was a member of the debate team, which won the state championship during his senior year. Orlando attended the College of Charleston from 1985 to 1990 and declared a major in chemistry. As a freshman, he was cast in a production of the Tina Howe play "Museum" alongside future "True Blood" star Carrie Preston, and in 1987, he was hired to write for the NBC series "A Different World." He earned the main writing credit on the 1991 episodes "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Baby, I'm a Star," and he guest-starred on the show in 1992. During his college years, Jones also launched Homeboy's Productions and Advertising with comedian Michael Fechter, making commercials for Food Lion, the S.C. Credit Union, and Michael Dukakis' presidential campaign as well as a McDonald's ad starring Michael Jordan.
Career
Orlando wrote for the Fox series "Roc" from 1991 to 1992, and he worked on "The Sinbad Show" as a writer and co-producer from 1993 to 1994. He made his TV debut in a 1992 episode of "Herman's Head," and from 1995 to 1997, he was a performer and writer during the first two seasons of "MADtv." On the show, he was known for characters such as Reverend LaMont Nixon Fatback and Dexter St. Croix, and he did impersonations of Ice Cube, Eddie Griffin, Danny DeVito, Warwick Davis, and Michael Jai White. Jones left the series in order to focus on a movie career, but he returned for the 200th episode in 2004. After leaving "MADtv," he appeared in the films "Sour Grapes" (1997), "Woo" (1998), "From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter" (1999), and "Liberty Heights" (1999) as well as the cult classic "Office Space" (1999) and the Academy Award-nominated film "Magnolia" (1999). Orlando guest-starred on "Girlfriends" (2003), "The Bernie Mac Show" (2003), "Wild 'n Out" (2005), "Everybody Hates Chris" (2007; 2008), "Ghost Whisperer" (2007), "New Amsterdam" (2008), and "Pushing Daisies" (2008), and he had recurring roles on ABC's "Men in Trees" (2007) and the CBS sitcom "Rules of Engagement" (2009). In 2006, he starred as Inspector Cayman Bishop on the ABC police procedural "The Evidence."
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Jones appeared in the films "Waterproof" (2000), "Chain of Fools" (2000), "Bedazzled" (2000), "Say It Isn't So" (2001), "The Time Machine" (2002), "Drumline" (2002), "Biker Boyz" (2003), "Runaway Jury" (2003), "House of D" (2004), "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" (2009), and "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" (2009), and he co-starred with Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman in "The Replacements" (2000), David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, and Seann William Scott in "Evolution" (2001), and Chris Rock and Kerry Washington in "I Think I Love My Wife" (2007). In 2013, he starred in the web series "Tainted Love," which he also created, and around this time, he guest-starred on "House" (2010), "Necessary Roughness" (2011) and "CSI: Miami" (2011) and appeared in "Seconds Apart" (2011), "The Chicago 8" (2011), and "Enemies Closer" (2013). From 2013 to 2015, Orlando played Captain Frank Irving in the first two seasons of "Sleepy Hollow," and he earned nominations from the Black Reel Awards and Black Reel Awards for Television for his performance as South African politician Oliver Tambo in the 2017 miniseries "Madiba."
From 2017 to 2019, Jones played Mr. Nancy (also known as the African trickster god Anansi) on "American Gods," and in late 2019, he said that he was fired because Charles Eglee, the new showrunner, "thinks that Mr. Nancy's angry, get sh– done is the wrong message for black America." A spokesperson for the show responded to the allegations, stating, "The storylines of American Gods have continually shifted and evolved to reflect the complex mythology of the source material. Mr. Jones' option was not picked up because Mr. Nancy, among other characters, is not featured in the portion of the book we are focusing on within season three." In 2020, Orlando had a recurring role as Lieutenant Marshawn Davis on Spectrum's "LA's Finest" and as The Rail Man in the Showtime miniseries "The Good Lord Bird." In 2022, he guest-starred on "Abbott Elementary" and "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty."
Personal Life
Orlando married Jacqueline Staph, a former model, on January 2, 2009, and they have two children. Jones filed for divorce in March 2021. In October 2011, Orlando was the subject of controversy when he tweeted, "Libyan Rebels kill Gaddafi, if American liberals want respect they better stop listening to Aretha & kill Sarah Palin (:" He later released a statement about the tweet, writing, "My job as an artist is to hold up a mirror to society. I do not decide how people feel or react to that. My tweet hit a nerve. That's good. The fact that is has taken precedent over the serious issues that face us is not good. Any anger directed at me and my right to free speech is an absolute waste of time. I am not a statesman. My comments reflect no political affiliation. It's just me being me, in a world that will never comfortably mix political correctness with artistic expression. For that, I offer no apologies, excuses or wisdom."
Award Nominations
In 2017, Jones received a Black Reel Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor, TV Movie or Limited Series for "Madiba." That year the Black Reel Awards for Television nominated him for Outstanding Supporting Actor, TV Movie/Limited Series for "Madiba" and Outstanding Guest Performer, Drama Series for "American Gods," and in 2019, "American Gods" earned him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor, Drama Series. Orlando also received a NAMIC Vision Award nomination for Best Performance – Drama for "American Gods" (2018).
