Jones was born and raised in
Detroit. He lost the middle finger on his left hand in a firearm accident at the age of 4. He wanted to join the
United States Air Force but was rejected based on having lost his finger. He began his career with an uncredited role in the successful TV show
Beverly Hills, 90210. In 1992, he took part in the
Malcolm X film. Jones played the character of
Zack Taylor, the original "Black Power Ranger" in the
Power Rangers series. He was written out of the series midway through the second season, after a contract and pay dispute, and was replaced by
Johnny Yong Bosch as the Black Ranger. Jones returned to
Power Rangers in the
Lost Galaxy season (1999) where he played the voice of Hexuba's Nightmare Monster in the episode "Dream Battle"; he also acted in an episode of
Power Rangers: Wild Force (2002) titled
Forever Red in which many previous Red Rangers teamed up. Again, he did not appear as his original character, Zack, but rather provided the voice for one of the antagonists, a general in the
Machine Empire named Gerrok. He was also one of the special commentators, along with fellow co-star
Amy Jo Johnson, on the "1993" episode of ''
I Love the '90s. He also reunited with Austin St. John (with whom he formed a close friendship during their time together on the show) as co-host for a special airing of the original pilot episode of Power Rangers
called "The Lost Episode". In 2023, he reprised the role of Zack Taylor for the first time since leaving the show in 1994 in the Netflix special, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always, which celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Power Rangers'' franchise. Jones was the very first actor to do voicework for any character other than a Ranger (mainly for monsters or villains) on a
Power Rangers show after having a role as a Ranger himself. Other former Rangers who would do voicework after Jones included
Archie Kao,
Catherine Sutherland,
Jason Faunt,
Valerie Vernon,
Sean Cw Johnson and
Johnny Yong Bosch. In 1996, Jones was a lead character in the teen drama
Malibu Shores playing "Mouse". Jones also had major roles in the independent film
The Dogwalker. He has appeared in other well-known productions, including a small part in
Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the season 4 episode "
Fear, Itself" and the
Disney Channel Original Movie,
Brink!. He also appeared as Harlan Band in the
Nickelodeon series
Space Cases, his second role as a main character and as a teenager. He guest starred in an episode of
Family Matters as Kissel, and portrayed a supporting character in the first season of
The Shield named Rondell Robinson, a drug dealer. He had a small role in the film
Suckers in which he played a character named Clay. He also appeared in many successful TV shows including
Family Matters,
Step by Step,
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,
Moesha,
Early Edition,
NYPD Blue,
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and
Off Centre. Additionally, he played a small role in the film
House of the Dead 2 as "locker zombie". Jones also had a major role in the
backyard wrestling film
Backyard Dogs, which spent time as the lowest-rated film on
IMDb. As of July 2007, it is no longer on the list as it was
straight-to-video. Jones voiced characters in the successful animated films
Open Season 2 (2008) and
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013). He appeared briefly as a salsa dance instructor on
Age of Love. He also appeared in
Mighty Med and as a poet in an episode of
Disney XD's
Pair of Kings. Additionally Jones has also been featured in a
PetSmart commercial and a
Bank of America commercial as well. In 2002, he appeared in the film
Love and a Bullet. In 2016, he appeared in the film
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping and the short film
Star Trek : Captain Pike. In January 2019, he starred in
The Order alongside
Austin St. John,
Catherine Sutherland,
David Yost,
Johnny Yong Bosch,
Paul Schrier,
Karan Ashley,
Steve Cardenas,
Erin Cahill,
Blake Foster,
Nakia Burrise,
Hilary Shepard Turner, Dan Southworth, Alyson Sullivan, Deborah Estelle Phillips and Azim Rizk. In 2021, he starred in the 7th episode of the second season of the series
Boomerang. The same year, he acted in the dramatic film
Memoirs of a Fighter alongside
Eric Roberts and
Tara Reid. In 2023, he was one of the actors in the
House Party. The film was released for
VOD on January 31, 2023, and was released on
Blu-ray and
DVD on February 14, 2023. On June 11, 2023, he released his debut single
"Dance" under the stage name
"Tre Emanuel". ==Filmography==