# L. Q. Jones

Justus Ellis McQueen Jr. (August 19, 1927 – July 9, 2022), known professionally as L. Q. Jones, was an American actor. He appeared in Sam Peckinpah's films Ride the High Country (1962), Major Dundee (1965), The Wild Bunch (1969), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973). His later film roles include Casino (1995), The Patriot, The Mask of Zorro (1998), and A Prairie Home Companion (2006).
His other roles included Western television series such as Cheyenne, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Laramie, Wagon Train, and The Virginian. He was the writer and director of the 1975 science fiction film A Boy and His Dog, based on Harlan Ellison's novella of the same name.

## Early life

Jones was born August 19, 1927, in Beaumont, in southeastern Texas, the son of Jessie Paralee (née Stephens) and Justus Ellis McQueen Sr., a railroad worker. At an early age he lost his mother when she died following a car accident. He completed his school education from Port Neches–Groves High School in 1945. After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1946, Jones attended Lamar Junior College (now Lamar University) and Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas, and then studied law, business and journalism at the University of Texas at Austin from 1950 to 1951. He worked as a stand-up comic, briefly played professional baseball and American football, and tried ranching in Nicaragua, then turned to acting after corresponding with Fess Parker, his former college roommate.

## Career

Jones made his film debut in 1955 in Battle Cry, credited under his birth name Justus McQueen. His character's name in that film was "L.Q. Jones", a name he liked and decided to adopt as his stage name for all of his future roles as an actor. In 1955, he was cast as "Smitty Smith" in three episodes of Clint Walker's ABC/Warner Brothers western series Cheyenne, the first hour-long western on network television.
Jones appeared in numerous films in the 1960s and 1970s. He became a member of Sam Peckinpah's stock company of actors, appearing in his Klondike series (1960–1961), Ride the High Country (1962), Major Dundee (1965), The Wild Bunch (1969), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973).
Jones was frequently cast alongside his close friend Strother Martin, most memorably as the posse member and bounty hunter "T. C." in The Wild Bunch. Jones also appeared as recurring characters on such western series as Cheyenne (1955), Gunsmoke (1955), Laramie, Two Faces West (1960–1961), and as ranch hand Andy Belden in The Virginian (1962). That same year (1962) Jones appeared as Ollie Earnshaw, a rich rancher looking for a bride, on Lawman, in the episode titled "The Bride".
He was cast in the military drama series Men of Annapolis, on the CBS western Johnny Ringo, and on the NBC western Jefferson Drum. He made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of con artist and murder victim Charles B. Barnaby in "The Case of the Lonely Heiress" (1958) and as Edward Lewis in "The Case of the Badgered Brother" (1963). He appeared in Hawaii Five-O, season 1, episode 15 in January 1969. He also appeared in an episode of The A-Team titled "Cowboy George" and two episodes of The Fall Guy as Sheriff Dwight Leclerc. In 1971, Jones appeared as Belden in The Men From Shiloh (the final season rebranding of The Virginian) episode titled "The Town Killer".
Jones' other films include Men in War (1957); The Naked and the Dead (1958); Flaming Star (1960); Cimarron (1960); Hell Is for Heroes (1962); Hang 'Em High (1968); Stay Away, Joe (1968); The Brotherhood of Satan (1971), which he co-produced and wrote; Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975); White Line Fever 1976 Lone Wolf McQuade (1983); Casino (1995); Tornado! (1996); The Edge (1997); The Mask of Zorro (1998); and A Prairie Home Companion (2006).
Jones directed, produced, and wrote the screenplay for A Boy and His Dog.

## Personal life and death

Jones was a practicing Methodist and a registered Republican. On July 9, 2022, Jones died from natural causes at his Hollywood Hills home in Los Angeles at the age of 94.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1955 | Battle Cry | Private L.Q. Jones | Credited as Justus McQueen |
| 1955 | An Annapolis Story | Watson | |
| 1955 | Target Zero | Private Felix O'Hara | |
| 1956 | Santiago | "Digger" | |
| 1956 | Toward the Unknown | 2nd Lieutenant Sweeney | |
| 1956 | Between Heaven and Hell | Private Kenny | |
| 1956 | Love Me Tender | Pardee Fleming | Uncredited |
| 1957 | Men in War | Staff Sergeant Samuel Davis | |
| 1957 | Operation Mad Ball | "Ozark" | |
| 1957 | Gunsight Ridge | Lazy Heart Ranch Hand | |
| 1958 | The Young Lions | Private Donnelly | Uncredited |
| 1958 | Buchanan Rides Alone | "Pecos" Hill | |
| 1958 | The Naked and the Dead | Woodrow "Woody" Wilson | |
| 1958 | Torpedo Run | "Hash" Benson | |
| 1959 | Warlock | Fen Jiggs | Uncredited |
| 1959 | Battle of the Coral Sea | Yeoman Halliday | |
| 1959 | Hound-Dog Man | Dave Wilson | |
| 1960 | The Gambler, the Nun and the Radio | Rodeo Rider | TV film |
| 1960 | Ten Who Dared | Billy "Missouri" Hawkins | |
| 1960 | Flaming Star | Tom Howard | |
| 1960 | Cimarron | Millis | |
| 1962 | Ride the High Country | Sylvus Hammond | |
| 1962 | Hell Is for Heroes | Supply Sergeant Frazer | |
| 1963 | Showdown | Foray | |
| 1964 | Iron Angel | "Buttons" | |
| 1964 | The Devil's Bedroom | | Director (credited as Justus McQueen) |
| 1964 | Apache Rifles | Mike Greer | |
| 1965 | Major Dundee | Arthur Hadley | |
| 1966 | Nevada Smith | Cowboy | Uncredited |
| 1968 | Stay Away, Joe | Bronc Hoverty | |
| 1968 | The Counterfeit Killer | Hotel Clerk Hanging Party | |
| 1968 | Hang 'Em High | Loomis, Cooper Hanging Party | |
| 1969 | The Witchmaker | Unknown | Uncredited |
| 1969 | The Wild Bunch | T.C. Nash | |
| 1970 | The Ballad of Cable Hogue | Taggart | |
| 1970 | The McMasters | Russell | |
| 1971 | The Hunting Party | "Hog" Warren | |
| 1971 | The Brotherhood of Satan | Sheriff | |
| 1972 | 43: The Richard Petty Story | Ed Koler | |
| 1972 | The Bravos | Ben Lawler | TV film |
| 1973 | Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid | "Black" Harris | |
| 1974 | Mrs. Sundance | Charlie Siringo | TV movie |
| 1975 | A Boy and His Dog | Actor In Porno Film | Director and writer |
| 1975 | White Line Fever | Buck | |
| 1975 | Winterhawk | Gates | |
| 1976 | Banjo Hackett: Roamin' Free | Sheriff Tadlock | TV movie |
| 1976 | Mother, Jugs & Speed | Sheriff Davey | |
| 1979 | Fast Charlie... the Moonbeam Rider | Floyd | |
| 1982 | The Beast Within | Sheriff Bill Pool | |
| 1982 | Melanie | Buford | Uncredited |
| 1982 | Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann | Ben Potter | |
| 1983 | Sacred Ground | Tolbert Coleman | |
| 1983 | Lone Wolf McQuade | Ranger Dakota Brown | |
| 1988 | Bulletproof | Sergeant O'Rourke | |
| 1989 | River of Death | Hiller | |
| 1990 | The Legend of Grizzly Adams | Reno | |
| 1994 | Lightning Jack | Sheriff Tom | |
| 1995 | The Friends of Harry | Senator | |
| 1995 | Casino | Commissioner Pat Webb | |
| 1996 | Tornado! | Ephram Thorne | TV film |
| 1997 | The Edge | Styles | |
| 1998 | The Patriot | Frank | |
| 1998 | The Mask of Zorro | Jack "Three-Fingered Jack" | |
| 1999 | The Jack Bull | Henry Ballard | TV film |
| 2001 | Route 666 | Sheriff Bob Conaway | |
| 2006 | A Prairie Home Companion | Chuck Akers | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1955 | Cheyenne | "Smitty" | 3 episodes |
| 1956 | Annie Oakley | Cal Upton / Ned Blane | 2 episodes |
| 1957 | The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial | Jedediah "Jed" Boone | Episode: "Dog vs. Biddeford" |
| 1957 | The Silent Service | Jack Potter | Episode: "The Final War Patrol" |
| 1958 | Flight | (character unnamed) | Episode: "Window in the Sky" |
| 1958 | Men of Annapolis | Clint Parker | Episode: "Mister Fireball" |
| 1958 | Jefferson Drum | Burdette | Episode: "The Keeney Gang" |
| 1958 | Perry Mason | Charles Barnaby | "The Case of the Lonely Heiress" |
| 1958–1962 | Lassie | Attorney Blake | 3 episodes |
| 1959 | Black Saddle | Jack Shepherd | Episode: "Client: Banks" |
| 1959 | Tightrope | Earl Bell | Episode: "The Frame" |
| 1959 | Wichita Town | Walter | Episode: "Drifting" |
| 1959 | Laramie | John MacLean | Episode: "Dark Verdict" |
| 1959 | Wagon Train | "Squirrel" Charvanaugh | Episode: "The Old Man Charvanaugh Story" |
| 1959–1961 | Tales of Wells Fargo | Striker | 2 episodes |
| 1960 | Johnny Ringo | Billy "Billy Boy" Jethro | Episode: "Four Came Quietly" |
| 1960 | Lock Up | "Tex" | Episode: "Death and Taxes" |
| 1960 | Buick-Electra Playhouse | Rodeo Rider | Episode: "The Gambler, the Nun and the Radio" |
| 1960 | Klondike | Joe Teel | 3 episodes |
| 1960 | The Rebel | Otis Rumpf | 2 episodes |
| 1960 | Two Faces West | Unknown | Episode: "The Last Man" |
| 1960 | Laramie | Actor | Episode: "The Dark Trail" |
| 1961 | The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor | Betty Merriwether | Episode: "Kinfolk" |
| 1961 | The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp | "Tex" | Episode: "Casey and the Clowns" |
| 1961 | The Americans | Yonts | Episode: "The Coward" |
| 1961 | Two Faces West | Unknown | Episode: "The Noose" |
| 1961 | Laramie | Homer | Episode: "Cactus Lady" |
| 1961 | Laramie | Truk | Episode: "Siege at Jubilee" |
| 1961 | Wagon Train | Lenny | Episode: "The Christopher Hale Story" |
| 1962 | Lawman | Ollie Earnshaw | Episode: "The Bride" |
| 1962 | The Rifleman | Charley Breen | Episode: "Day of Reckoning" |
| 1962 | The Wide Country | Whicker | Episode: "Straitjacket for an Indian" |
| 1962 | Ben Casey | Stan Galloway | Episode: "The Fireman Who Raised Rabbits" |
| 1962 | Have Gun – Will Travel | "Little" Fontana | Episode: "Lazarus" |
| 1962 | Have Gun – Will Travel | Bill Renn, Drifting Cowboy | Episode: "The Waiting Room" |
| 1962 | Laramie | Johnny Duncan | Episode: "The Replacement" |
| 1962 | Laramie | Neeley | Episode: "Among the Missing" |
| 1962 | Laramie | Frank Keefer | Episode: "Shadow of the Past" |
| 1963 | Have Gun – Will Travel | Hector MacKenby | Episode: "Debutante" |
| 1963 | Route 66 | "Babe" | Episode: "Shall Forfeit His Dog and Ten Shillings to the King" |
| 1963 | Laramie | Sergeant | Episode: "The Stranger" |
| 1963 | Empire | L.Q. | Episode: "The Convention" |
| 1963 | Perry Mason | Lewis | Episode: "The Case of the Badgered Brother" |
| 1963 | Wagon Train | Esdras | Episode: "Charlie Wooster—Outlaw" |
| 1963 | Wagon Train | Ike Truman | Episode: "The Robert Harrison Clarke Story" |
| 1963 | Rawhide | George Cornelius | Episode: "Incident at El Crucero" |
| 1963–1971 | The Virginian | Andy Belden | 25 episodes |
| 1964 | Wagon Train | Private James Jones | Episode: "The Duncan McIvor Story" |
| 1964 | Rawhide | Corporal Wayne | Episode: "Incident at Gila Flats" |
| 1964 | Rawhide | Luke | Episode: "The Race" |
| 1965 | Rawhide | P.J. Peters | 2 episodes |
| 1965 | My Favorite Martian | Frank James | Episode: "The Time Machine Is Waking Up That Old Gang of Mine" |
| 1966 | A Man Called Shenandoah | Ben Lloyd | Episode: "Rope's End" |
| 1966 | Pistols 'n' Petticoats | 1st Gunman | Episode: "Sir Richard of Wretched" |
| 1966 | ABC Stage 67 | Deputy | Episode: "Noon Wine" |
| 1966 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | The Hotel Clerk | Episode: "The Faceless Man" |
| 1966 | The Big Valley | Cort | Episode: "By Force and Violence" |
| 1967 | The Big Valley | Curtis | Episode: "Court Martial" |
| 1967 | The Big Valley | Earl Vaughan | Episode: "Showdown in Limbo" |
| 1967 | The Big Valley | Hutch | Episode: "Ambush" |
| 1967 | Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Ernie Packer | Episode: "The Lady is My Wife" |
| 1967 | The F.B.I. | Wesley Davis | Episode: "The Gold Card" |
| 1967 | Cimarron Strip | Barnes | Episode: "The Battleground" |
| 1967 | Cimarron Strip | Lummy | Episode: "The Search" |
| 1967 | Hondo | Allie | Episode: "Hondo and the Death Drive" |
| 1968 | The Big Valley | Gus Vandiver | Episode: "Fall of a Hero" |
| 1969 | Gunsmoke | Kittridge | Episode: "The Good Samaritans" |
| 1969 | Hawaii Five-O | Colonel Lew Cardell | Episode: "King of the Hill" |
| 1969 | Lancer | Slate Meek | Episode: "Blind Man's Bluff" |
| 1970 | Gunsmoke | Sumner Pendleton | Episode: "The Gun" |
| 1970 | Gunsmoke | Nix | Episode: "Albert" |
| 1971 | Alias Smith and Jones | Clint Weaver | Episode: "Stagecoach Seven" |
| 1971 | The F.B.I. | Al Tanner | Episode: "Dynasty of Hate" |
| 1971 | Cannon | Phil Mackey | Episode: "Fool's Gold" |
| 1971 | Cade's County | Grover Curtis | Episode: "Delegate at Large" |
| 1972 | Gunsmoke | "Gecko" Ridley | Episode: "Tara" |
| 1972 | Alias Smith and Jones | Drunk | Episode: "The Men That Corrupted Hadleyburg" |
| 1972 | The Delphi Bureau | Cole | Episode: "The Man Upstairs-The Man Downstairs Project" |
| 1972 | The Bold Ones: The New Doctors | Dr. Dietrich | Episode: "A Purge of Madness" |
| 1972 | Alias Smith and Jones | Peterson | Episode: "McGuffin" |
| 1973 | Ironside | Harry Ashton | Episode: "The Caller" |
| 1973 | Kung Fu | Sergeant Straight | Episode: "An Eye for an Eye" |
| 1973 | Assignment Vienna | Actor | Episode: "A Deadly Shade of Green" |
| 1973 | Cannon | Sheriff Virgil Spoontz | Episode: "Perfect Alibi" |
| 1974 | The Magician | Johnson | 2 episodes |
| 1974 | Ironside | Cardiff | Episode: "Riddle at 24,000" |
| 1975 | Kung Fu | Major Clarke Bealson | Episode: "The Last Raid" |
| 1975 | Matt Helm | Actor | Episode: "Deadly Breed" |
| 1976 | Movin' On | "Flakey" Edwards | Episode: "The Big Switch" |
| 1976 | Charlie's Angels | Sergeant Billings | Episode: "Bullseye" |
| 1977 | McCloud | Kenny Hingle | Episode: "The Moscow Connection" |
| 1978 | CHiPs | Hoskins | Episode: "Rustling" |
| 1978 | Charlie's Angels | Dan Jarvis | Episode: "Angels in the Backfield" |
| 1978 | Columbo | Gun Dealer | Episode: "The Conspirators" |
| 1978 | The Eddie Capra Mysteries | Dr. Amos | Episode: "Dying Declaration" |
| 1979 | How the West Was Won | Batlin | Episode: "Luke" |
| 1979 | The Runaways | Matthew Turner | Episode: "They'll Never Forgive Me" |
| 1979 | The Incredible Hulk | Jake White | Episode: "Jake" |
| 1979 | The Dukes of Hazzard | Warren | Episode: "Witness for the Persecution" |
| 1979 | Charlie's Angels | Burdette | Episode: "Angel Hunt" |
| 1980 | Vega$ | Everett Mason | Episode: "The Lido Girls" |
| 1980 | Charlie's Angels | Sam Mason | Episode: "An Angel's Trail" |
| 1980 | The Incredible Hulk | The Director | Episode: "On the Line" |
| 1980 | Enos | Garrett | Episode: "Blu Flu" |
| 1981 | Walking Tall | John Whitter | Episode: "Hitman" |
| 1981 | Riker | Massey | Episode: "Honkytonk" |
| 1982 | The Dukes of Hazzard | Morton | Episode: "The Sound of Music – Hazzard Style" |
| 1982 | The Fall Guy | Sheriff Dwight Le Clerc | 2 episodes |
| 1983 | Voyagers! | Ground Control #1 | Episode: "All Fall Down" |
| 1983–1984 | The Yellow Rose | Sheriff Lew Wallace | 10 episodes |
| 1984 | Matt Houston | Sheriff Loftus | Episode: "The Monster" |
| 1986 | The A-Team | Chuck Danford | Episode: "Cowboy George" |
| 1991 | The New Adam-12 | Mr. Weaver | Episode: "Crack House" |
| 1994 | Walker, Texas Ranger | Billy Selkirk | Episode: "Deadly Reunion" |
| 1994–1996 | Renegade | Nathan Wayne | 5 episodes |
| 2004 | Dr. Vegas | "Hondo" | Episode: "All In" |