A Bay Area native, Keita Jones was raised in a pre-gentrified Oakland, California during a time when the city was referred to as “The Town”, Foothill Boulevard was “The Strip”, and “Uptown” was still considered “Downtown”. Acting since the age of 13, he began his career on the stage at The Black Repertory Group in Berkeley and later received additional training at A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory as well as earning a B.A. in theater from UCLA’s prestigious school of Theater, Film and Television.
Throughout his career, Keita has portrayed a wide variety of characters on stage from the middle-aged West Indian griot Poppa Shakespeare in The African Grove Company Presents Richard III, the southern-raised soldier Corporal Cobb in A Soldier’s Play, and recently released ex-con, Sterling in August Wilson’s Two Trains Running. In addition to contemporary work, Keita is no stranger to classical theater having worked with the California Shakespeare Theater and San Francisco based African American Shakespeare Company in productions such as King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Tartuffe.
Not one to limit his acting to the stage, Keita has also displayed his talent in front of the camera, most notably with his feature length film debut as the main antagonist and gang leader D Mann, in the 2010 urban cult classic Townbiz.
To add to his repertoire as an actor, Keita has led an active lifestyle having competed in close to a dozen triathlons, rowing crew, earning a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and working in Corporate America for over 15 years. He enjoys playing board games and bicycle riding with his two daughters, riding state-to-state on his Harley Davidson and observing his 2nd Amendment right as an American while tightening his groupings at the local shooting range.
“I’m great at failing and even better at succeeding because I suck at quitting” -Keita Jones
