Lawrence Hilton Jacobs

About

Lawrence Hilton Jacobs (born September 4, 1953), also credited as Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs and Lawrence Hilton-Jacques, is an American actor and singer. Best known for playing Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington in Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–1979), he has also appeared in a number of films and television shows, including Claudine (1974), Cooley High (1975), Roots (1977), Bangers and Mash (1983), Alien Nation (1989–1990), The Jacksons: An American Dream (1992), and 31 (2016).

Jacobs was born in New York City, New York, the fifth of nine children of parents Hilton Jacobs (1920–2000) and Clothilda Jacobs (1922–2008). He began his acting career in the summer of 1969 and graduated from the High School of Art and Design in 1971. He attended Wilkes University for a short time before his acting career took off. Afterward, he studied acting with the Negro Ensemble Company and the Al Fann Theatrical Ensemble.
In 1975, he won the role of Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington on the ABC hit comedy series, Welcome Back, Kotter. Jacobs also starred in cult classic Cooley High in 1975 played as Richard “Cochise” Morris, and two years later had a role in the block-buster ABC mini-series Roots…