Dean Jones

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**Dean Carroll Jones** (January 25, 1931 – September 1, 2015) was an American actor.

Jones was best known for his light-hearted leading roles in several Walt Disney movies between 1965 and 1977 such as *The Love Bug* (1968). Jones also originated the role of Bobby in Stephen Sondheim's *Company*.

## Early years

Dean Carroll Jones was born in Decatur, Alabama, to Andrew Guy Jones, a traveling construction worker, and Nolia Elizabeth White Jones. As a student at Decatur's Riverside High School, Jones had his own local radio show, *Dean Jones Sings.* Jones served in the United States Navy during the Korean War, and after his discharge worked at the Bird Cage Theater at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California.

Jones attended Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, as a member of its Class of 1953, but did not graduate. The university, however, awarded him an honorary degree in 2002, and he spoke at the ceremony for the dedication of Asbury's Andrew S. Miller Center for Communications Arts on March 4, 2011.

## Stage

After appearing in minor film and television roles, Jones made his Broadway debut (along with Jane Fonda) in the 1960 play *There Was a Little Girl*. He stepped into the role in Boston, Massachusetts, at only one day's notice. In 1960 he also played Dave Manning in the Broadway comedy *Under the Yum-Yum Tree*, a role which he repeated in the 1963 movie version starring Jack Lemmon.

After achieving success in film and television, Jones was set to return to Broadway as the star of Stephen Sondheim's musical *Company* in 1970. Shortly after opening night, Jones withdrew from the show, due to stress that he was undergoing from ongoing divorce proceedings. Director Harold Prince agreed to replace him with Larry Kert if Jones would open the show and record the cast album. Jones agreed, and his performance is preserved on the original cast album (although it was Larry Kert who received the Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Musical).

In 1986, Jones, by then having become a Christian, starred in *Into the Light*, a musical about scientists and the Shroud of Turin, which closed four days after it opened. He had far more success touring in the one-man show *St. John in Exile* as the last surviving Apostle of Jesus Christ, reminiscing about his life while imprisoned on the Greek island of Patmos. A performance was filmed in 1986. He made one more Broadway appearance, in 1993, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, in a special two-day concert staging of *Company* featuring most of the original Broadway cast.

## Television and film

Jones started his film career by signing a contract at MGM, beginning with a small role as a soldier in *Somebody Up There Likes Me* (1956) and he later played disc jockey Teddy Talbot in the Elvis Presley film *Jailhouse Rock* (1957). He portrayed a soldier in both *Imitation General* (also 1957) with Glenn Ford and *Never So Few* (1959) with Frank Sinatra.

Jones had a major role in an episode of ABC's *Stagecoach West* ("Red Sand", 1960). He portrayed Joe Brady, one of two outlaws, with Harold J. Stone as Tanner. They are trapped during a sandstorm in a frontier house with series stars Robert Bray and Richard Eyer as Simon and Davey Kane, respectively. The outlaws are sought by the United States Army for armed robbery and the death of two guards. The young woman of the house, Martha Whitlock, played by Diana Millay, was recently deserted by her husband. She becomes attracted to Jones' character, who considers himself a failure since he had been orphaned at an early age. In the story line, it is determined that Brady is not guilty of the robbery and shooting of the guards, but is culpable as an accessory after the fact.

Jones subsequently starred in the NBC television sitcom *Ensign O'Toole* (1962–63), produced by Four Star Television, portraying an easy-going and inexperienced officer on a U.S. Navy destroyer. His co-stars included Jack Mullaney, Jack Albertson, Jay C. Flippen, Harvey Lembeck, and Beau Bridges. Jones also recorded a singing album, *Introducing Dean Jones*, for Valiant Records.

As *Ensign O'Toole* was the lead-in show on NBC to Walt Disney's *The Wonderful World of Color*, Disney ordered a print of Jones' latest film *Under the Yum Yum Tree* to study. Disney signed Jones on for a string of Disney films in the 1960s and 1970s, beginning with *That Darn Cat!*. His performance was so well-received that Disney used him for future movies including *The Ugly Dachshund* (1966), *Blackbeard's Ghost* (1968) and *Snowball Express* (1972).

Jones' signature Disney role would be as race car driver Jim Douglas in the highly successful *The Love Bug* series. He appeared in two feature films, *The Love Bug* (1968) and *Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo* (1977), as well as the short-lived *Herbie, the Love Bug* (1982) television series and the made-for-TV movie *The Love Bug* (1997).

Away from Disney, Jones co-starred with Broadway-era co-star Jane Fonda in a the romantic comedy, *Any Wednesday* (1966) and, in a dramatic turn, portrayed Ed Cooper in the NBC television movie *When Every Day Was the Fourth of July* (1978). In the later film, Jones played an attorney in the 1930s who agrees to defend a man who has been accused of murder; accepting the case only after urging from his daughter. The film received critical acclaim and Jones reprised the role of Ed Cooper in the ABC television sequel *The Long Days of Summer* (1980). He appeared with Gregory Peck and Danny DeVito as Bill Coles, the president of Peck's company, which was fighting a hostile takeover by DeVito, in *Other People's Money* (1991).

Jones then appeared as Dr. Herman Varnick, the evil veterinarian in the family film *Beethoven* (1992). Coincidentally he also did the voice of George Newton in the television version of *Beethoven*. He also appeared in a small role as Director of Central Intelligence Judge Arthur Moore in the film adaptation of Tom Clancy's *Clear and Present Danger* (1994), which stars Harrison Ford.

On July 25, 1994, Jones was a guest on *100 Huntley Street*.

## Personal life

Jones' first marriage to Mae Inez Entwisle ended in divorce in 1970. He has two children from that union. He was married to actress Lory Patrick from 1973 until his death in 2015.

Dean Jones became a devout born-again Christian in 1973–1974, before his father's death in 1979. His book *Under Running Laughter* (1982) recounts his experience of Christianity. He had had a history of suffering from depression. His wife Lory said, "One night he got down on his knees and prayed that God would free him from the miserable moods that he had always suffered. He told me that in an instant it was gone and he felt peace and joy flood into his heart." Jones appeared in several Christian films. He also voiced the narrator in Birdwing Records' 1979 studio album, Nathaniel the Grublet.

In 1998, Jones founded the Christian Rescue Committee (CRC), an organization that helps provide a "way of escape to Jews, Christians, and others persecuted for their faith."

### Death

Jones died on September 1, 2015, at the age of 84, of Parkinson's disease.

## Filmography

* *Somebody Up There Likes Me* (1956)
* *These Wilder Years* (1956)
* *Tea and Sympathy* (1956)
* *The Opposite Sex* (1956)
* *The Rack* (1956)
* *The Great American Pastime* (1956)
* *Slander* (1956)
* *Ten Thousand Bedrooms* (1957)
* *Designing Woman* (1957)
* *Until They Sail* (1957)
* *Jailhouse Rock* (1957)
* *Handle with Care* (1958)
* *Imitation General* (1958)
* *Torpedo Run* (1958)
* *Night of the Quarter Moon* (1959)
* *Never So Few* (1959)
* *Under the Yum Yum Tree* (1963)
* *The New Interns* (1964)
* *Two on a Guillotine* (1965)
* *That Darn Cat!* (1965)
* *The Ugly Dachshund* (1966)
* *Any Wednesday* (1966)
* *Monkeys, Go Home!* (1967)
* *Blackbeard's Ghost* (1968)
* *The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit* (1968)
* *The Love Bug* (1969)
* *Mr. Superinvisible* (1970)
* *The Million Dollar Duck* (1971)
* *Snowball Express* (1972)
* *Guess Who's Sleeping in My Bed?* (1973)
* *The Shaggy D.A.* (1976)
* *Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo* (1977)
* *Once Upon a Brothers Grimm* (1978)
* *When Every Day Was the Fourth of July* (1978)
* *Born Again* (1978)
* *The Long Days of Summer* (1980)
* *Herbie, the Love Bug* (1982)
* *St John In Exile* (1986)
* *Other People's Money* (1991)
* *Beethoven* (1992)
* *Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style* (1992)
* *Clear and Present Danger* (1994)
* *Beethoven* (voice)
* *Getting Around in Time (A spasso nel Tempo)* (1996)
* *Acts* (1996)
* *Nowhere Man* (1995)
* *That Darn Cat* (1997)
* *The Love Bug* (1997)
* *Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero* (1998) (voice) (direct-to-video)
* *Scrooge and Marley* (2001) (TV)
* *Lavinia's Heist* (2007)
* *You Know the Face* (2008) (documentary)
* *Mandie and the Secret Tunnel* (2008)

## Broadway appearances

* *There Was a Little Girl* (February 29 – March 12, 1960)
* *Under the Yum Yum Tree* (November 16, 1960&nbsp– April 15, 1961)
* *Company* (April 26, 1970&nbsp– January 1, 1972) (replaced by Larry Kert on May 29, 1970)
* *Into the Light* (October 22–26, 1986)
* *Company* (Concert staging) (April 11–12, 1993)
* *St. John in Exile*

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 **Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration' not found.**
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Man at Work—Finally", People, November 11, 1991
3. ↑ **Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration' not found.**
4. ↑ theatermania.com Peter Filichia article, "How Now, Dean Jones?"
5. ↑ **Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration' not found.**
6. ↑ *A Conversation with Dean Jones* Herbie Mania
7. ↑ Disney Icon Dean Jones Dies at 84. Christianity Today, (originally published as "At Home with Dean Jones", Jan/Feb 2004).

## External links

* Dean Jones at the Internet Movie Database
* Dean Jones at the TCM Movie Database
* Dean Jones at the Internet Broadway Database

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