LeJon is a native of Southern California, born in Inglewood and raised in Compton & Carson. LeJon’s first theatre experience was at the age of 11 when he played Travis in “A Raisin In The Sun” with The All Peoples Community Theatre group. He danced on Soul Train in H.S and danced on American Bandstand in College. He attended California State University Dominguez Hills, received a B.A. in 3 years as opposed to the traditional 4 years. In his 3rd & final year at Dominguez Hills he was elected to the office of ASB (Associated Student Body) Comptroller (Treasurer). During that 3rd year he also pledged Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and was the first Kappa who pledged thru Dominguez Hills. He was an English Major & Theatre Arts Minor. The following year he was elected Polemarch (President) of the Upsilon Chapter (UCLA-C.S.U.Los Angeles, C.S.U. Northridge & C.S.U. Dominguez Hills. After College, he attended Loyola Law School for 1 year. That summer he obtained employment for a private practice law firm in Century City. A year later he was hired at an Entertainment Business Mgmt Firm. Gene Hackman, Boz Scaggs, Kelly LeBrock and Apollonia were his clients.
LeJon married his College sweetheart, Tandalaya Nelson, purchased a home in the Inland Empire, raised 3 boys & 1 girl and eventually became a Certified Teacher by obtaining a Single Subject Credential (Eng) & a Multiple Subject Credential K-6 for the Colton School District. He designed & taught The At Risk Program for their Middle Schools and eventually taught at Colton H.S.(Special Ed./ English & Drama). He has buried one son, Adonis and is a proud grandfather from son, Lejon Nelson. Daughter Parisse is a Berkeley graduate and son Avery graduated UCLA class of 2020.
On summer break from teaching he was cast as a background actor for the film Boogie Nights. On set, that night he had an epiphany that it was time to pursue an acting career. He joined SAG in 1998 and AFTRA in 2000 and worked at an Extras Casting Co. choosing background work to augment his journey pursuing an acting career.
In 2005, Disney Studios & Jerry Bruckheimer Films auditioned 800 actors for Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest. LeJon was cast as a Black Pearl Pirate, Capt.Jack Sparrow’s Rifleman. Gore Verbinski used the name Lejon for his role which miraculously made LeJon a Disney character. He is defined in Wikipedia as an African American Actor raised in Southern California as well as the Character Lejon, a Black Pearl pirate who was found on the Island of Tortuga by Capt. Sparrow. Disney & Lego immortalized LeJon by creating a Lejon Lego toy. The SAG Conservatory connects SAG actors to the American Film Institute (AFI) where they take an array of acting classes- Comedy, Drama, Improvisation and more… LeJon took a wide range of Acting classes with the AFI and was cast in several student films.
LeJon can also be seen in Thomas Haden Church’s “Cardboard Boxer”,Television shows: Dan Harmon’s “Community” portraying the alto-ego of Donald Glover’s character Troy (aka Childish Gambino) “Parenthood”, “FX Legit”, TV movie “Art Prison”-Randall Park and many more.
LeJon is also known for National commercials for Mercedes Benz directed by Michael Bay, McDonalds, Reebok, Regional commercial directed by Hype Williams for Mountain Dew with Busta Rhymes and Super Bowl commercial for “The Voice”. Korean Airlines chose LeJon to be in an International Print Ad & international commercial run.
LeJon has been a member of The Sky Pilot Theatre Co.for the past 9 years and stars in a scripted Podcast titled NPRmageddon. He currently has 10 features that stream on Netflix, Amazon Prime and/or Tubi. In Dec. 2023 he was awarded a Channy Award for Best Supporting Actor, by Channel 101, created by Dan Harmon & Rob Schrab. In a previous year LeJon won Best Supporting Actor and Best Villian for his role as the Leprechaun of Cream. In August 2024 LeJon received the “Dick Gregory Award” (Activist & Comedien) given by The National Congress of Black Women.
He was working on independent films “Loose Ends” & “Water” both by Directors J. Luksetich and Randy Kent. He has 3 award winning Short Films in the Film Festival Circuit, “Lucy The Lion” directed by Academy Award Nominated Director Kalman Apple, “Echoes of the Forest” directed by Nestor Vinelli and “Down & Out In Vampire Hills directed by Craig Railsback. In the feature “Down For The Count” LeJon played Soothsayer DeJa, which streamed Oct. 2024 & produced by Tyler Turner.
In Spring of 2024 LeJon hired world reknown Publicist Micky Soler who is responsible for the following: LeJon was interviewed LIVE by Arica TV (Chile). Original MAGAZINE (UK) has honored LeJon with the cover of the July 2024 issue. He also appears in their Aug & Sept. 2024 issues. In the past 2 months LeJon has appeared in magazines in the U.K., Italy, Greece & Amsterdam (Holland). He also appeared in the Summer issue of “Hollywood Entertainment News” 2024 magazine. In Nov. 2024 he was a guest on U.K. podcast, “Directed By Dean”. Award winning Producer/Writer Martin Nuza has cast LeJon in a sequel “In Tenebras 2- Timelines” playing General # 1. He has been at front cover of Artists Magazine, OriGinaL MagaZine UK, Love Hollywood USA Magazine, FamoCelebrity, The Celebrity Online, Entertainment News Greece.
He has been working with Elijah Perry at Echoes of the Forest and Lucy the Lion from Oscar-nominated director Kalman Apple. He just finished filming “The job” with actress Dawna Lee Heising and director Craig Railsback. He is also part of Skeleton Crew ( from Star Wars company). He continues to work hard on his new projects, with his vibrant personality and attending numerous film festivals in Los Angeles.