Kathleen de Leon Jones
Kathleen de Leon Jones (née de Leon; born 1 September 1977) is a Filipino-Australian actress, dancer, and singer. She was an original member of the ARIA Award-winning Australian children's musical group Hi-5 from 1998 to 2007 and left nine years with the group. She had her last stage show in April 2006, and would remain doing promotional appearances until the end of 2006 before officially retiring in July 2007.
Biography
Kathleen de León was born in Manila on 1 September 1977 and moved to Australia less than a year later with her parents. She is the oldest of three daughters; her two younger sisters, Jennifer and Melanie were born in Australia. The family spent the majority of de León's childhood in Sydney. de León started singing and dancing at an early age. She taught herself to play the guitar, prompting her parents to enroll her in The McDonald College, an exclusive performing arts school in the inner western suburbs of North Strathfield. She was awarded both the Roberta Armstrong and Kelloggs Scholarships to study at the school, where she studied dance, drama, and voice for a number of years while making professional auditions in her spare time.