Tommy Lee Jones - Biography - IMDb Tommy Lee Jones Biography Showing all 71 items Jump to: Overview (3) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (3) | Trade Mark (5) | Trivia (38) | Personal Quotes (16) | Salary (5) Overview (3) 6' (1.83 m) Mini Bio (1) Tommy Lee Jones was born in San Saba, Texas, the son of Lucille Marie (Scott), a police officer and beauty shop owner, and Clyde C. Jones, who worked on oil fields. Tommy himself worked in underwater construction and on an oil rig. He attended St. Mark's School of Texas, a prestigious prep school for boys in Dallas, on a scholarship, and went to Harvard on another scholarship. He roomed with future Vice President Al Gore and played offensive guard in the famous 29-29 Harvard-Yale football game of '68 known as "The Tie." He received a B.A. in English literature and graduated cum laude from Harvard in 1969. Following college, he moved to New York and began his theatrical career on Broadway in "A Patriot for Me" (1969).

In 1970, he made his film debut in Love Story (1970). While living in New York, he continued to appear in various plays, both on- and off-Broadway: "Fortune and Men's Eyes" (1969); "Four on a Garden" (1971); "Blue Boys" (1972); "Ulysses in Nighttown" (1974). During this time, he also appeared on a daytime soap opera, One Life to Live (1968) as Dr. Mark Toland from 1971-75. He moved with wife Kate Lardner , granddaughter of short-story writer/columnist Ring Lardner , and her two children from a previous marriage, to Los Angeles. There he began to get some roles on television: Charlie's Angels (1976) (pilot episode); Smash-Up on Interstate 5 (1976); and The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977). While working on the movie Back Roads (1981), he met and fell in love with Kimberlea Cloughley, whom he later married.

More roles in television--both on network and cable--stage and film garnered him a reputation as a strong, explosive, thoughtful actor who could handle supporting as well as leading roles. He made his directorial debut in The Good Old Boys (1995) on TNT. In addition to directing and starring in the film, he co-wrote the teleplay (with J.T. Allen ). The film, based on Elmer Kelton 's novel, is set in west Texas where Jones has strong family ties. Consequently, this story of a cowboy facing the end of an era has special meaning for him. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Maria Vitale <maria.vitale@runningb.com> Spouse (3) Known both on-screen and off-screen for his crusty, cranky persona Often plays hard-edged but sarcastic law enforcement and military officers Often plays real-life historical figures (Thaddeus Stevens, Howard Hughes, Gary Gilmore, Ty Cobb, Oliver Lynn, Clay Shaw) Deep gravelly voice with thick Texas accent Trivia (38) Never took an acting class. He and Al Gore were roommates while the two were students at Harvard University. The two remain close friends.

Part time cattle rancher, owns 3,000-acre ranch near San Antonio, TX. Plays polo and raises polo ponies. His team won the U.S. Polo Association's Western Challenge Cup in 1993. Invites Harvard University's best polo players to his ranch to practice each fall. Father's name was Clyde C. Jones -- he did not have a middle name, just an initial. Real-life son, Austin Leonard Jones , played his son, Tommy, in Screen Two: Double Image (1986). According to author Erich Segal , Jones and his then Harvard roommate Al Gore , were the models for the character of Oliver in Love Story (1970). Injured after falling from horse during polo match. [October 1998] Writes most of his own most memorable lines in films: The Fugitive (1993)... when Richard Kimble ( Harrison Ford ) tells Marshal Gerard, "I didn't kill my wife," Gerard replies, "I don't care!" Under Siege (1992)... William Strannix's speech after he loses his mind: "Saturday morning cartoons... This little piggy...

" Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) ... John Neville's revealing speech at the end of the movie. Ten days after graduating from Harvard, he landed his first role in the Broadway production of "A Patriot for Me" (with Maximilian Schell ), which closed after 49 performances. He got his agent after giving a letter of introduction to actress Jane Alexander . His story of how he found an agent and a Broadway job so quickly was written about in an issue of "Ripley's Believe It or Not". His ex-wife, Kate Lardner , is Ring Lardner 's granddaughter. Speaks Spanish fluently. He is a first cousin of Boxcar Willie , a famous country singer. Owns the movie rights to Cormac McCarthy 's controversial novel "Blood Meridian," which many consider unfilmable. Born on the exact same day as filmmaker and good friend Oliver Stone . Was the studio's original (and preferred) choice to play Snake Plisken in John Carpenter 's Escape from New York (1981). The studio was reluctant to cast Kurt Russell , who ultimately got the part, because of his previous work. Is the only Texan to have played fellow Texan Howard Hughes .

Leonardo DiCaprio ( The Aviator (2004)), Jason Robards ( Melvin and Howard (1980)) and Terry O'Quinn ( The Rocketeer (1991)) were born in California, Illinois and Michigan, respectively. Is an avid San Antonio Spurs fan. Played Howard Hughes in The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977) and later appeared in Batman Forever (1995), which was filmed inside the hangar of Hughes' "Spruce Goose.". Jones was also a resident of Midland, Texas, and attended the same high school as the former First Lady Laura Bush . An eighth-generation Texan, he has English, as well as some Scots-Irish (Northern Irish) and Scottish, ancestry. He has also stated that he has Cherokee Native American roots, but it is not clear if this ancestry has been documented (all of his grandparents and great-grandparents were listed as "White" on United States Censuses).

An animated caricature of him appeared in an episode of the animated series adaptation of Men in Black (1997) alongside an animated caricature of his MIB co-star Will Smith , set against a scene parodying another hit film starring Smith, Independence Day (1996). Is an avid polo player. He even bought a house in a polo country club in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In Batman Forever (1995), his character of "Two-Face" flips a coin to see if his victims should live or die. Twelve years later he played a sheriff in No Country for Old Men (2007) pursuing an assassin who kills random victims by asking them to call a coin toss. Mother was Lucille Marie Scott. Had a younger brother, born 3 years after the actor, who died in infancy. Became friends with Al Gore when they were roommates at Harvard University, and he was asked to host the Nobel Peace Prize concert for Gore. At the 2000 Democratic National Convention, he presented the nominating speech for Al Gore as the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States.

Was set to star in Everybody's All-American (1988) in 1982, but the studio backed out partly because they did not believe that Jones was leading man material. Jones has said that he found it all amusing. Dennis Quaid got the part when Taylor Hackford took over the project. Was set to star in Savior (1998), but had to back out due to other commitments. Has been friends with actor Tom Berenger since they were both on One Life to Live (1968). The longest he has gone without an Oscar nomination is 14 years, between The Fugitive (1993) and In the Valley of Elah (2007). As of 2014, has appeared in six films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Love Story (1970), Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), JFK (1991), The Fugitive (1993), No Country for Old Men (2007) and Lincoln (2012). Only No Country for Old Men (2007) won in the category.

First of three actors whose Oscar-winning roles were inspired by the works of Victor Hugo . The character of Lt. Gerard in The Fugitive (1993) was modeled after Inspector Javert in Les Miserables. Anne Hathaway won her Oscar for playing Fantine in Les Misérables (2012). Heath Ledger won his Oscar for playing the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008), which was inspired by the character Gwynplaine from The Man Who Laughs (1928). He and Hathaway have also both had roles in the Batman film series: Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), while Jones appeared in Batman Forever (1995) as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, a character also appearing in The Dark Knight (2008). Accepted the Texas Legend Award during the Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards ceremony held on March 12, 2015 in Austin, Texas. Personal Quotes (16) Somebody's gonna give you some money to perform a job, you do your best to make 'em a good hand...

It's no mean calling to bring fun into the afternoons of large numbers of people. That too is part of my job, and I'm happy to serve when called on. My thanks to the Academy for the very finest, greatest award that any actor can ever receive. The only thing a man can say at a time like this is -- I am not really bald. I do not have a sense of humor of any recognizable sort. [on how he learned to direct] I've worked with more than 50 directors and I've paid attention since day one. That's pretty much been my education, apart from studying art history and shooting with my own cameras. I've seen 50 different sets of mistakes and 50 different ways of achieving. You just leave the bad part out. I really enjoyed a remark that Howard Hawks once made. He said the most important thing is not to ask an actor to do anything he can't do. Same thing goes for horses. [on working with famous movie stars] I feel pretty lucky. Those guys, they know my name. They know who I am. Not bad for a little Indian boy. Not bad. You just look for good parts and good stories and a good company to work with.

Characters with no integrity are just as interesting as characters with lots of integrity. I love cinema, and I love agriculture. [regarding the furor over the violence in Natural Born Killers (1994)] Those who say that a work of art is an invitation to violent anti-social behavior are not very bright. It's been said, truthfully, that every actor has a moment in every year, at least, when he knows for sure that he'll never work again. That's a more or less humorous way to point to the insecurity that comes with the job. I think that's why [ Laurence Olivier ] said, "If you have any choice at all, don't be an actor". I bear no resemblance to Douglas MacArthur whatsoever. But a campaign hat, some aviator glasses and a corncob pipe go a long way. [on Will Smith ] Will is more generous than anyone, and he spreads joy. He walks into a studio, walks onto a set, and he makes certain that everybody's happy. He can't help himself. Harrison [ Harrison Ford ] is probably the best physical actor working today. I don't simply mean hanging on to the hood of a Nazi truck as it zooms around the desert.

He has a way of running that's quite articulate. He uses his body very, very well. [observation, 2014] The quality of one's emotional life changes over the years, doesn't it? But the basic instincts and desires, greed and hope, seem to remain constant. In the larger scope of things, there's a sense of fulfillment to living a creative life. So I guess that's what keeps me going. [on his film, The Homesman (2014)] I don't even know what a western is. I'm interested in making films about the history of my country. I think 'western' means the story has horses and big hats. That's about as descriptive as the term can be. What I'm trying to indicate is that I don't think in terms of genre. And yet I will admit that I've made three movies that had horses and big hats, so there must be something there. Salary (5) Tommy Lee Jones Biography | Movies.com Tommy Lee Jones Biography Awards An eighth-generation Texan, actor Tommy Lee Jones, born September 15th, 1946, attended Harvard University, where he roomed with future U.S.

Vice President [[Performer~P285102~Al Gore~algore]]. Though several of his less-knowledgeable fans have tended to dismiss Jones as a roughhewn redneck, the actor was equally at home on the polo fields (he's a champion player) as the oil fields, where he made his living for many years. After graduating cum laude from Harvard in 1969, Jones made his stage debut that same year in A Patriot for Me; in 1970, he appeared in his first film, [[Feature~V30317~Love Story~lovestory]] (listed way, way down the cast list as one of [[Performer~P53567~Ryan O'Neal~ryanoneal]]'s fraternity buddies). Interestingly enough, while Jones was at Harvard, he and roommate [[Performer~P285102~Gore~algore]] provided the models for author [[Performer~P64315~Erich Segal~erichsegal]] while he was writing the character of Oliver, the book's (and film's) protagonist.

After this supporting role, Jones got his first film lead in the obscure Canadian film [[Feature~V15603~Eliza's Horoscope~elizashoroscope]] (1975). Following a spell on the daytime soap opera [[Feature~V284353~One Life to Live~onelifetolive[tvseries]]], he gained national attention in 1977 when he was cast in the title role in the TV miniseries [[Feature~V1787~The Amazing Howard Hughes~theamazinghowardhughes]], his resemblance to the title character -- both vocally and visually -- positively uncanny. Five years later, Jones won further acclaim and an Emmy for his startling performance as murderer Gary Gilmore in [[Feature~V16299~The Executioner's Song~theexecutionerssong]]. Jones spent the rest of the '80s working in both television and film, doing his most notable work on such TV miniseries as [[Feature~V29911~Lonesome Dove~lonesomedove]] (1989), for which he earned another Emmy nomination.

It was not until the early '90s that the actor became a substantial figure in Hollywood, a position catalyzed by a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role in [[Performer~P112907~Oliver Stone~oliverstone]]'s [[Feature~V25653~JFK~jfk]]. In 1993, Jones won both that award and a Golden Globe for his driven, starkly funny portrayal of U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard in [[Feature~V18834~The Fugitive~thefugitive]]. His subsequent work during the decade was prolific and enormously varied.

In 1994 alone, he could be seen as an insane prison warden in [[Feature~V132230~Natural Born Killers~naturalbornkillers]]; titular baseball hero [[Performer~P13817~Ty Cobb~tycobb]] in [[Feature~V133920~Cobb~cobb]]; a troubled army captain in [[Feature~V131977~Blue Sky~bluesky]]; a wily federal attorney in [[Feature~V131219~The Client~theclient]]; and a psychotic bomber in [[Feature~V81172~Blown Away~blownaway]].

Jones was also attached to a number of big-budget action movies, hamming it up as the crazed Two-Face in [[Feature~V134815~Batman Forever~batmanforever]] (1995); donning sunglasses and an attitude to play a special agent in [[Feature~V154946~Men in Black~meninblack]] (1997); and reprising his [[Feature~V18834~Fugitive~thefugitive]] role for the film's 1998 sequel, [[Feature~V158897~U.S. Marshals~usmarshals]]. The following year, he continued this trend, playing [[Performer~P36453~Ashley Judd~ashleyjudd]]'s parole officer in the psychological thriller [[Feature~V180794~Double Jeopardy~doublejeopardy]].

The late '90s and millennial turnover found Jones' popularity soaring, and the distinguished actor continued to develop a successful comic screen persona ([[Feature~V196444~Space Cowboys~spacecowboys]] [2000] and [[Feature~V260392~Men in Black II~meninblackii]] [2002]), in addition to maintaining his dramatic clout with roles in such thrillers as [[Feature~V184519~The Rules of Engagement~rulesofengagement]] (2000) and [[Feature~V267164~The Hunted~thehunted]] (2003). 2005 brought a comedic turn for the actor, who starred in the madcap comedy Man of the House as a grizzled police officer in tasked to protect a house full of cheerleaders who witnessed a murder. Jones also took a stab at directing that year, helming and starring in the western crime drama The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.

In 2006, Jones appeared in Robert Altman's film adaptation of A Prairie Home Companion, based on Garrison Keillor's long running radio show. The movie's legendary director, much loved source material and all-star cast made the film a safe bet for the actor, who hadn't done much in the way of musical comedy. Jones played the consumate corporate bad guy with his trademark grit. 2007 brought two major roles for the actor. He headlined the Iraq war drama In the Valley of Elah for director Paul Haggis. His work as the veteran father of a son who died in the war earned him strong reviews and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. However more people saw Jones' other film from that year, the Coen brothers adaptation of No Country for Old Men. His work as a middle-aged Texas sheriff haunted by the acts of the evil man he hunts earned him a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The actor co-starred with Stanley Tucci and Neal McDonough for 2011's blockbuster Captain America: The First Avenger, and reprised his role as a secret agent in Men in Black 3 (2011).

In 2012 he played a Congressman fighting to help Abraham Lincoln end slavery in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, a role that led to an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi Advertisement Tommy Lee Jones - Page - Interview Magazine To Message Tommy Lee Jones spends a lot of time thinking about the awesome light out west. He was born into it, in San Saba, Texas, in 1946, and that light has been working on him ever since. For a time, Jones left small-town Texas to go to Harvard, where he roomed with Al Gore and was an All-Ivy League offensive lineman on the football team famed for its legendary comeback against Yale in 1968, a game recounted in the documentary Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 (2008). But he always came back. As an actor, in the television epic Lonesome Dove (1989) or in his great film work—from his rigid patriarch in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) to the dogged U.S.

Marshal in The Fugitive (1993), for which he won an Oscar, and the imperturbable sheriff in No Country For Old Men (2007)—Jones often plays outdoorsmen who have been sealed shut by their lives in the searing sun, wizened and weathered by its rays. But if he's famously portrayed men parched by the light, Jones has reserved a bit of its heat as humor, which he flashes most notably through the extra-dry, intergalactic affairs of Agent K in the Men in Black franchise. And then there is his performance as New Orleans businessman, and alleged assassination conspirator, Clay Shaw in Oliver Stone's JFK (1991), in which Jones melts down that light and heat to make mercury, giving his Shaw a kind of sadistic charisma, a garrulousness, violence, dominance, and quicksilver allure utterly his own. As a director of movies mostly set "on the west side of the Mississippi River," as he says, with "horses and big hats," Jones is intently studying the western light.

In his made-for-TV movie The Good Old Boys (1995), in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005), (and, in a different way, 2011's HBO movie The Sunset Limited, which he directed from the play by Cormac McCarthy), and in his new film, The Homesman , out this month, Jones paints western tableaux with the sort of elemental characters and themes of myth—the good 'uns and bad 'uns, the tricksters, thieves, and the oppressed womenfolk out of the McCarthy and Larry McMurtry schools. The Homesman, which Jones and his writing partners adapted from the Glendon Swarthout novel, is set in the Plains territory of Nebraska and state of Iowa in 1855, and occupies itself primarily with the plight of those women—and one woman in particular, the righteous and heroically unloved Mary Bee Cuddy, played by Hilary Swank. As the 68-year-old actor-director tells his longtime friend, and co-star in The Homesman, Meryl Streep, Jones made this movie as an exploration, a way to understand what's wrong with women and men.

When Streep placed the call this past September, the leaves were just beginning to turn outside her window in Connecticut, while in San Antonio, where Jones lives, a big rain had made everything green and clean and then cleared out to let in the light. MERYL STREEP: When was it that we first met, do you remember? TOMMY LEE JONES: I remember it was sometime around 1972. I think we were both doing plays at the Public Theater. I had heard about you. And the Public Theater used to be a library, I think, because it has labyrinthine hallways and spaces. There was one hallway where I could open the door to a tiny little balcony, not more than two feet deep, from which I could look down on you while you rehearsed. STREEP: I think the first time I ever saw you, you were playing football. JONES: That's possible. But we actually met across the street on Lafayette, in front of that actors' saloon called the Colonnade. You had on a pink, fuzzy pillbox hat. STREEP: [laughs] Oh my God. Well, hell. JONES: You made that hat look pretty good.

STREEP: Well, you made Sam Shepherd look pretty good. When did you start acting? You played football at Harvard, and actually, your Coriolanus at Harvard is legend in our family—we were just talking about it this last weekend, about how somebody from the Boston Globe wrote a review of it, a student production, saying it was a great performance. JONES: I started when I was in the second grade. The entire elementary school in Rotan, Texas, presented a theatrical production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. And the part of Sneezy fell to me. STREEP: [laughs] Naturally. JONES: I took that very seriously. Actually, that play was the beginning of my career in the media, as well, because in Rotan at that time, the radio station was above the drug store, and it wasn't very big. It was smaller than your trailer, but it had one of those radio microphones about the size of a dinner plate. And they brought the teacher, who was also the director, and the seven dwarfs into the radio station and lined us all up, and each actor was introduced and told to do something indicative of his character.

She called my name and, of course, I sneezed. STREEP: Wow, that's hard! Can you still sneeze on cue? JONES: I can, but I charge more for it than I did when I was seven years old. I've been an actor ever since, really. STREEP: What was the first serious play you remember being in? JONES: Well, my parents went to Libya. My dad worked in the oil business, and I was about to go into the ninth grade, and I knew that they didn't play football in Libya, so I didn't want to go. We found a prep school in Dallas where they took homework very seriously. I had a real struggle accommodating myself to that. But they also took the theater pretty seriously ... STREEP: So you boarded there? JONES: Yeah, and I was walking around the campus one day and, just out of curiosity, looked in the door of the theater. I saw a play in rehearsal, and that felt pretty comfortable. It felt pretty good. And I said, "That's probably something I want to do." And the next play they did was a good play for a boys prep school ...

STREEP: Was it Twelve Angry Men? JONES: It was The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. STREEP: Oh, close! JONES: Yeah, the set is just a courtroom. All of the costumes are khaki uniforms, all of the parts are male. I played the young lieutenant, Stephen Maryk. STREEP: What was the first play you did at Harvard? JONES: I started looking for chances to get into the theater as soon as I got there. And a couple of weeks into the year, I went to Henry Nicholson Lamar, who was the freshmen football coach, and who had been coaching there since before the day I was born. I said, "Look, I'm interested in acting. I auditioned for and have the chance to play a part in The Tempest. Do you think there's any chance that I'm going to be able to start on this football team?

Because I'm looking at football and I'm looking at theater, and I want to know what my prospects are." And he said, "I don't know how well you're going to do, but I can tell you that you've got four more years to play football, and you can be an actor for the rest of your life." STREEP: Ooh, what a great coach. JONES: He was truly a great coach. He was a beloved coach at Harvard. I wanted to play that part very much, and I was so proud of myself when I was cast, but I decided to play football, and what I did instead was a workshop with a fellow on the English faculty named Dan Seltzer, who worked with me on Act III, Scene III of Othello, the scene where Othello's mind is turned around by Iago. The central prop is what T.S. Eliot called an objective correlative—Iago says he has noticed a handkerchief spotted with strawberries wiping the beard of one Michael Cassio of Florence. I really enjoyed working on that, but we never performed it. My first play was probably one of those Pinter plays—The Caretaker.

I did three Pinter plays while I was there. Two years of summer repertory and a whole lot of other plays. By the time I got to New York, I had done over 20 of them. Once in New York, I moved in with a former college pal and started looking for work. It was a very scary time, but 10 days later, I had a job on Broadway. That would've been the summer or early fall of '69. And the fact that I got a job on Broadway that quickly was mentioned in Ripley's Believe It or Not! It was one of John Osborne's last plays, called A Patriot for Me, starring Maximilian Schell. I actually wound up playing six different parts. And one of them had a line! [Streep laughs] It scared me to death. y motivation for wanting to have all three of those jobs [writing, directing, and acting] is, well, having any two of them makes the third one pretty easy. And I've led a visual life. —TOMMY LEE JONES Current Issue STREEP: Oh, I bet. But really fun. JONES: I loved being an actor in New York and working in the theater.

STREEP: When did you turn to directing? JONES: About 20 years ago, I directed a movie for Ted Turner's television network, based on a book written by a Texas writer by the name of Elmer Kelton. He wrote over 50 so-called "western" novels. Three of them are good. The one I co-adapted to a screenplay and directed was called The Good Old Boys, and it's just a family film. You can take your grandkids to it. STREEP: I've never wanted to sit outside of the character and look at it at the same time. I understand actors wanting to direct. I don't understand how you can do both things at once. What made you say, "Goddammit, I'm going to do this because I think I can"? JONES: That's pretty much my motivation: I'm going to do this because I know I can. My motivation for wanting to have all three of those jobs [writing, directing, and acting] is, well, having any two of them makes the third one pretty easy. And I've led a visual life. I took a lot of courses in art history in college.

STREEP: But the imaginative job of an actor is a very different sort of kettle of fish from what the job of a director is. JONES: That's why I don't see any conflict. They're just two different jobs. STREEP: What I noticed while working with you as an actor is that your concentration was total. And when I worked with you as a director on The Homesman, I sort of marveled at how effortlessly you got up out of your chair and walked into our world. What is that? JONES: I've just paid a lot of attention all of my life on these movie sets, and I've got a pretty good practical education around the camera. It's important for me as an actor to know the entire script before you start shooting, and especially if you're directing, you don't want to be struggling with anything. STREEP: I don't know many actors who learn the whole script before day one. JONES: I've always done that. You can't change your mind until you make it up. STREEP: [laughs] Mine is so frequently made up right away.

I want to talk about this movie, which I thought was profound, funny, unbearable, and ravishingly beautiful. I love movies that give you a lot to chew on. So much of it is about the loneliness and the haplessness of women at this time in the mid-19th century—their dependence on the strengths or the steadfastness of men who so often failed them. You have a very weak preacher—[John] Lithgow was amazing in that part—and the impoverished or insensitive or brutal husbands, and the completely unreliable man who calls himself Briggs [the rascal claim jumper and ne'er-do-well played by Jones in the movie]. What pulled you to consider life from the female point of view? JONES: Well, my grandmother, my mother, my wife, and my daughter are all women. A lot of my dear friends, yourself included, are women. I am just interested in how they feel, and what's wrong. And if you want to know what's wrong today, looking at what was wrong yesterday is a pretty good place to start.

There's an undeniable tradition of sexism in this country that ties into the move westward by people of European descent, and different ways of looking at Manifest Destiny on the west side of the Mississippi River. STREEP: Some of the first freedoms were won by western women. The women of Wyoming were the first to vote, almost half a century before we got it back east. JONES: Right. So those struggles and what made them a struggle is of interest to me. I like to make movies on the west side of the Mississippi River, and a lot of times the movies I direct have horses and big hats in them and get called westerns, but that's okay. I used to resent that, but I don't anymore. STREEP: And that landscape is completely distinct. JONES: It certainly is. It's beautiful country, and I'm at home there. I love looking at it and I love photographing it even more. And if you can provide what you know with a narrative that has originality to it, you're on your way to making a good movie. STREEP: Well, it certainly is original. Hilary [Swank] is so splendid.

She's so simple and uncovered in this part—she's almost as clear as the landscape itself. JONES: I was very proud of her. I thought about her for the role for as much as three seconds, and I knew we had to do everything we could to persuade her to play that role because she's perfect. STREEP: She's a hero in the western tradition. JONES: A hero and a victim, and the many different angles are worth our attention. STREEP: When this film begins, we think we're watching her story. But at a certain point, we're carried away by a different character. Have you ever seen a film do that, start on the shoulders of one protagonist and move to another? JONES: Not that I know of. STREEP: Nobody's ever done that. And so much of the movie is about human relationships as transactional—you give me this, I'll give you that. JONES: Well, yeah. STREEP: Women come out on the short end.

The tender emotions, the things that you associate with the best of life—the love of the woman for her mother or a man for his wife or a girl for her babies or a woman for music or the yearning of people for God—in this film, they seem doomed. JONES: I've avoided using the word imperialism because I'd like for people to figure it out. Mary Bee Cuddy [Swank's character] is sacrificed. And that leads to George Briggs's redemption. STREEP: It's like the most glorious thing in life is the selfless act. And what he says to Hailee Steinfeld's character at the very end ... JONES: "You are the living, breathing reason she will never be lost." This young girl is self-sufficient, she's honest, and she is humiliated by poverty but very proud, and she represents the best of western womanhood, just as Mary Bee did. And that's what's on Briggs's mind. He's a bit more sensitive now than when we first met him. He cares about this girl. He warns her to stay where she is. STREEP: But then he says, "Why don't we marry?" And he is amused by how she weighs that transaction.

Mary Bee Cuddy has been trying to marry anybody, everybody—and even with her beautiful 31-year-old self, everybody turns her down. But this old, cursed son of a bitch can get a 16-year-old to say, "Maybe." God, that's so fucked up! JONES: I thought it was funny. STREEP: It was funny. JONES: And there's a depth of irony there that's relevant to our narrative, I think. Are you familiar with the work of George Caleb Bingham? STREEP: The paintings of the Mississippi, wasn't it? JONES: He liked to paint pictures of boatmen. And his outlook on the western movement, by what had become known as Americans, is always very robust and optimistic and full of this glory, this almost Biblical light. He's got one picture of Daniel Boone marching through the Cumberland Gap with legions of settlers and pioneers on both sides. From my sensibility, it's full of irony and not related to the truth in any way. What I try to do with Bingham in the last images was to tear him up and his point of view. Those images are derived from Bingham, but they have something entirely different to say.

STREEP: I have acted with Clint Eastwood where he's directing himself, and it seems like he's always reluctant to give the actor part of himself permission to indulge in something kind of wild. And this is the greatest thing about how you divide your time, because a director who is not also the actor would give an actor this permission, but it's really unusual that you would allow yourself the freedom that's in that moment, and it is gorgeous. JONES: You started the interview by asking me about pride, and what I almost said was, "Listen, Meryl, pride is a sin, and I try to avoid it." But I can tell you I'm very proud of this movie and proud of myself because you showed up. It means the world to me. STREEP: That was one of the hardest days I've ever done on a film. I don't know why. JONES: Those clothes are painful. What are you doing now? STREEP: I'm playing an aging rocker who's got a band, and we play cover songs in San Fernando Valley bars. JONES: That's perfect for you. STREEP: Jonathan Demme is the director. Rick Springfield is my lead guitarist.

Rick Rosas from Neil Young's band is on bass. I've got an amazing band. And we're all over 65, so it's pretty funny. [laughs] Well, you have the touch, man. Keep me in mind for the next one. If you have any parts for old ladies, I can play guitar now. MERYL STREEP IS A THREE-TIME ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING ACTRESS. SHE WILL BE SEEN IN THE UPCOMING FILMS INTO THE WOODS AND SUFFRAGETTE. here's an undeniable tradition of sexism in this country that ties into the move westward by people of European descent, and different ways of looking at Manifest Destiny on the west side of the Mississippi River. — TOMMY LEE JONES Tommy Lee Jones Quotes | Contactmusic.com Follow Tommy Lee Jones 29th July 2015 Fact: Tommy Lee Jones is joining Matt Damon in the upcoming installment of The Bourne Identity franchise. Details of the Oscar winner's role have yet to be revealed, but according to Variety, Jones is slated to play a "superior officer at the CIA" in the action series.

13th April 2015 Fact: Actor Tommy Lee Jones has dropped the asking price for his horse ranch in Florida after it failed to sell at $27 million (£17 million) between 2011 and 2013. The 55-acre San Saba Polo Ranch is now back on the market for less than $20 million (£12.5 million). It boosts 48 horse stalls, a lake, polo field and nature reserve around the four-bedroom property, according to TMZ.com. 19th November 2014 Quote: "He's so smart and on our first day... I was very nervous... I come up into the scene and he gives me some direction and I had no idea what he was talking about - he said it in a way... I didn't get it, clearly because he said, 'Ok, let me rephrase that'... He was just using Harvard words." Hilary Swank had problems understanding her The Homesman co-star/director Tommy Lee Jones on the set. 8th November 2014 Fact: Tommy Lee Jones , Jessica Alba and Michelle Yeoh will join Jason Statham in the sequel to action movie The Mechanic.

Brit Statham will return as hitman Arthur Bishop in Dennis Gansel's Mechanic: Resurrection 24th July 2014 Fact: Tommy Lee Jones is set to reunite with his Jfk co-stars Kevin Costner and Gary Oldman in upcoming thriller Criminal. 30th August 2012 Fact: Actor Tommy Lee Jones will join Ewan McGregor as an honouree at Spain's San Sebastian International Film Festival in September (12). The stars, along with director Oliver Stone, will receive the Donostia Award for their contributions to cinema. 4th February 2011 Quote: "I wasn't doing anything and Tommy Lee called me and said he had this project that he was very passionate about, and he wanted to direct, and he was gonna be in this two-man piece, and the only person he could see to do the other side of this role was me." SAMUEL L. JACKSON was easily persuaded to join his Hollywood pal Tommy Lee Jones in new TV movie, The Sunset Limited, based on the play by Cormac MCCarthy. 27th August 2009 Quote: "Beyond rude. And he thinks he has such a good education. A snob.

You want to say, 'Darling, we've all been to good schools. Calm down.' He went to Yale - big deal. Didn't we all?" Comedienne Joan Rivers isn't a fan of Tommy Lee Jones . 12th November 2008 Fact: Tommy Lee Jones has been honoured at the Argentinean International Film Festival - the actor's handprints have been set in cement outside the Mar De Plata headquarters. 4th February 2008 Quote: "Albuquerque is a really hard place to work. It's very noisy. There are crows there, planes, trucks, people working on their cars. It's just a noisy place to shoot." Tommy Lee Jones on shooting NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN in New Mexico. 2nd February 2008 Fact: Actor Tommy Lee Jones was presented with the American Riviera Award at the 2008 Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Friday (01Feb08). 15th November 2007 Fact: Kill Bill star Uma Thurman will join actor Tommy Lee Jones to co-host the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in honour of his former college roommate and ex-U.S. vice president, Al Gore .

Celebrities Alicia Keys , Annie Lennox and Melissa Etheridge will all take to the stage for the concert on 11 December (07). 8th November 2007 Fact: Actor Tommy Lee Jones will co-host the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in honour of his former college roommate and ex-U.S. vice president, Al Gore . Celebrities Alicia Keys , Annie Lennox and Melissa Etheridge will all take to the stage for the concert on 11 December (07). 7th November 2007 Fact: Tommy Lee Jones will be honoured with the American Riviera Award at the 23rd Santa Barbara Film Festival in January (08). The award is given to an actor who has a strong influence on U.S. cinema. 6th November 2007 Quote: "We're constantly trying to refine the conformation of the Brangus cow, a combination of Brahma and Angus." Tommy Lee Jones on what he does on his San Antonio, Texas ranch.

11th September 2007 Fact: Actor JAKE MCLAUGHLIN, who plays a Iraq War veteran in new Tommy Lee Jones movie IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, was actually part of the American forces' initial military push into Baghdad. 7th September 2007 Fact: Tommy Lee Jones ' former father-in-law, PHIL HARDBERGER, is the Mayor of San Antonio, Texas. 4th September 2007 Quote: "I just love him. I don't know why. I just think he's the greatest. I know he's kind of craggy and old but he just does it for me." Transformers star Julie White admits to a crush on Tommy Lee Jones . 18th September 2006 Fact: Both Tommy Lee Jones and Oliver Stone turned 60 yesterday (15SEP06). 1st March 2006 Quote: <p>"Oliver and I were born on the same day, same year, but I can still p**s him off by telling him he's older than I am by 10 minutes." Tommy Lee Jones knows how to upset film-maker Oliver Stone .

</p> 28th January 2006 Quote: <p>"Don't raise your voice. Never go beyond a third take. And get really comfortable shoes. You gotta take care of your feet." Movie star Tommy Lee Jones on the best advice he has ever received about directing. </p> 24th January 2006 Quote: <p>"I had to cross Wesley Snipes off the list for the role of a callow, white Anglo-Saxon Protestant neo-fascist." Tommy Lee Jones jokes about the casting list for his new movie THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA. </p> 9th December 2005 Quote: <p>"Horses are pretty cheap out there." Tommy Lee Jones jokes about how he filmed a disturbing scene of a horse falling off a cliff to its death in new movie THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA. </p> 9th December 2005 Fact: <p>MEN IN BLACK star Tommy Lee Jones has four dogs named after his favourite western movie stars - JOHNNY MACK BROWN, Slim Pickens , Ben Johnson and GENE AUTRY.

</p> 31st October 2005 Fact: <p> Tommy Lee Jones is set to take on the role created by late movie star Richard Crenna in the upcoming RAMBO IV. The actor will play COLONEL TRAUTMAN in the new film, which will star Sylvester Stallone . </p> Tommy Lee Jones

Question: Which movie director was born on exactly the same day as actor Tommy Lee Jones?
Answer: Oliver Stone