Richard Timothy Jones (born January 16, 1972)^[1] is an American actor.^[2] He has worked extensively in both film and television productions since the early 1990s. His television roles include Ally McBeal (1997), Judging Amy (1998–2005), CSI: Miami (2006), Girlfriends (2007), Grey's Anatomy (2010), Hawaii Five-0 (2011–2014), Narcos (2015), and Criminal Minds (2017).^[2][3] Since 2018, he has played Police Sergeant Wade Grey on the ABC police drama The Rookie.^[4][5]

His film roles include portrayals of Lamont Carr in Disney's Full Court Miracle (2003), Laveinio "Slim" Hightower in Rick Famuyiwa's coming-of-age film The Wood (1999), Mike in Tyler Perry's dramatic films Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010), and Captain Russell Hampton in the Hollywood blockbuster Godzilla (2014).^[3][6]

Jones was born in Kobe, Japan, to American parents and grew up in Carson, California.^[7] He is the son of Lorene, a computer analyst, and Clarence Jones, a professional baseball player who at the time of Jones' birth was playing for the Nankai Hawks in Osaka.^[7] He has an older brother, Clarence Jones Jr., who works as a high school basketball coach. They would return to North America after Clarence's retirement following the 1978 season.^[8] His parents later divorced. Jones attended Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance, California, then graduated from Tuskegee University.^[7][8]

Since the early 1990s, Jones has worked in both film and television productions.^[2]

His first television role was in a 1993 episode of the series California Dreams.^[7] That same year, he appeared as Ike Turner, Jr. in What's Love Got to Do with It.^[8] From 1999 to 2005, he starred as Bruce Calvin van Exel in the CBS legal drama series Judging Amy.^[3]

Over the next two decades, Jones starred or guest-starred in high-profile television series such as Ally McBeal (1997), CSI: Miami (2006), Girlfriends (2007), Grey's Anatomy (2010), Hawaii Five-0 (2011–2014), Narcos (2015), and Criminal Minds (2017).^[2]

His film roles include portrayals of Lamont Carr in the Disney film Full Court Miracle (2003), Laveinio "Slim" Hightower in Rick Famuyiwa's coming-of-age film The Wood (1999), and Mike in Tyler Perry's dramatic films Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010), and Captain Russell Hampton in the Hollywood blockbuster Godzilla (2014).^[6][3]

From 2017 to 2018, Jones played Detective Tommy Cavanaugh in the CBS drama series Wisdom of the Crowd.^[9]

Since February 2018, Jones has played the role of Sergeant Wade Gray in the ABC police procedural drama series The Rookie with Nathan Fillion.^[4][5]

Jones is religious,^[10] with Joshua Media Ministries claiming that its leader, David E. Taylor, mentors Jones in ministry, and that Jones has donated $1 million to its efforts.^{[11][citation needed]}