<Ul> <Li> Robert Townsend as Donald "Duck" Matthews: Duck hails from a poor family . He is The Five Heartbeats' co-founder and brother of fellow Heartbeat's member J.T. Matthews, and originally was only the composer and musician for the group . He is a permanent vocalist after Bobby disappears . He serves as the movie's narrator, with the film beginning as he reminisces about the group's career . </Li> <Li> Leon Robinson as J.T. Matthews: J.T. is the older brother of Duck . A womanizer; he and his brother Duck share a close and sometimes turbulent relationship . </Li> <Li> Michael Wright as Eddie King, Jr.: Eddie comes from an area that features predominantly poor individuals, his own father believing his attempts to start a career in the music industry will be unsuccessful . Similar to David Ruffin, Eddie is the lead vocalist of the band and falls into a life of drugs that eventually leads to his expulsion from the group as well as emotional trauma . Eddie is one of the founding members of The Heartbeats and serves as the crowd pleaser whose voice leads to success in many of their performances . </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> Tico Wells as Anthony "Choirboy" Stone: Stone is given the nickname "Choirboy" (much to his chagrin) for his past as a choir boy in his father's church . Similar to Eddie, Stone's father does not support his decision to become a music artist fearing rock and jazz are "the devil's music ." He becomes more of a womanizer as the group becomes more successful, but later goes back to being a part of his father's ministry after the group disbands . </Li> <Li> Harry J. Lennix as Terrence "Dresser" Williams: The original choreographer of The Heartbeats, Dresser serves as the groups bass singer and one of the founding members . He is replaced by Ernest "Sarge" Johnson as the choreographer after Sarge out - dances Dresser . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Robert Townsend as Donald "Duck" Matthews: Duck hails from a poor family . He is The Five Heartbeats' co-founder and brother of fellow Heartbeat's member J.T. Matthews, and originally was only the composer and musician for the group . He is a permanent vocalist after Bobby disappears . He serves as the movie's narrator, with the film beginning as he reminisces about the group's career . </Li> <Li> Leon Robinson as J.T. Matthews: J.T. is the older brother of Duck . A womanizer; he and his brother Duck share a close and sometimes turbulent relationship . </Li> <Li> Michael Wright as Eddie King, Jr.: Eddie comes from an area that features predominantly poor individuals, his own father believing his attempts to start a career in the music industry will be unsuccessful . Similar to David Ruffin, Eddie is the lead vocalist of the band and falls into a life of drugs that eventually leads to his expulsion from the group as well as emotional trauma . Eddie is one of the founding members of The Heartbeats and serves as the crowd pleaser whose voice leads to success in many of their performances . </Li>

Who did leon play in the five heartbeats