Ari Lehman is an American performing artist, composer, and actor. He is known for playing the child Jason Voorhees in the Paramount horror film Friday the 13th, becoming the first actor to portray the horror icon. Lehman currently performs in a punk rock/heavy metal band, First Jason.

A native New Yorker, Ari Lehman grew up in Westport, Connecticut, where he trained in Classical Music and Jazz Piano. Lehman was presented with an All-State Award for Excellence in Jazz Piano and a scholarship to Berklee School of Music by jazz educator, Dr. Billy Taylor.

Lehman heard about an audition being held in Westport for the movie, “Manny’s Orphans”, about a group of inner-city orphans who play soccer, directed by Sean S. Cunningham. Lehman snuck into the audition and landed the role of “Roger”. This role led to Lehman getting the call to play Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th from Sean S. Cunningham.”For his audition Lehman was asked one key question by the director, ‘Can you swim?’

After the release of Friday the 13th, Lehman returned to New York City, where he enrolled at New York University and concentrated on Big Band Orchestration and Jazz Piano, “where he studied with the likes of Vladimir Shafranov”. Lehman’s career led him to become a keyboardist for artists of Reggae and African music of the time, with whom he toured throughout the US, Europe and West Africa, and recorded with at Tuff Gong Records and Interscope Records.

Lehman went on to form his own world rock and reggae band Ari Ben Moses Band, and gained acclaim when, upon moving to Chicago in late 2002, he was contacted by horror fans who invited him to attend an East Coast horror convention. Lehman then created First Jason, a punk metal band specifically for horror fans, especially the fans of Jason Voorhees and Friday the 13th.