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).

[1] He began his acting career in the summer of 1969 and graduated from the High School of Art and Design in 1971.

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.

Later in his career, he appeared in the 1989-1990 science fiction TV series Alien Nation as Sgt.

[2] He portrayed Panda Thomas (#1) in Rob Zombie's slasher film 31.