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Dick Jones (actor)

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Dick Jones
Jones (right) as Henry Aldrich withJackie KelkonThe Aldrich Family,circa 1943–44
Born
Richard Percy Jones[1]

(1927-02-25)February 25, 1927
Snyder, Texas,U.S.
DiedJuly 7, 2014(2014-07-07)(aged 87)
Northridge, California,U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • singer
Years active1934–1965
Spouse
Betty Jones
​
(m.1948)​
Children4

Richard Percy Jones(February 25, 1927 – July 7, 2014), known asDick JonesorDickie Jones,was an American actor and singer who achieved success as achild performerand as a young adult, especially inB-Westerns.In 1938, he played Artimer "Artie" Peters, nephew of Buck Peters, in theHopalong CassidyfilmThe Frontiersman.He is also known as the voice ofPinocchioinWalt Disney'sfilm of the same name.

Early life

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Jones was born on February 25, 1927,[1]inSnyder,some ninety miles south ofLubbock,Texas.[2]The son of a newspaper editor, Jones was a prodigious horseman from infancy, having been billed at the age of four as the "World's Youngest Trick Rider and Trick Roper". At the age of six, he was hired to perform riding andlariattricks in therodeoowned bywesternstarHoot Gibson,who convinced young Jones and his parents that he should come to Hollywood.[3]Jones and his mother moved there, and Gibson arranged for some small parts for the boy, whose good looks, energy, and pleasant voice quickly landed him more and bigger parts, both in low-budget westerns as well as in more substantial productions.[4]

Career

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Among his early films areLittle Men(1934) andA Man to Remember(1938). Jones appeared as a bit player in several ofHal Roach'sOur Gang(The Little Rascals) shorts, includingThe Pigskin PalookaandOur Gang Follies of 1938(both from 1937). In 1939, Jones appeared as a troublesome kid, Killer Parkins, in the filmNancy Drew... Reporter.The same year he appeared withJimmy StewartinMr. Smith Goes to Washingtonas Senate page Richard (Dick) Jones. In 1940, he had one of his most prominent roles, as the voice of Pinocchio inDisney's animated film of the same name.Jones attendedHollywood High Schooland at fifteen took over the role ofHenry Aldrichon the hit radio showThe Aldrich Family.He learned carpentry and augmented his income with jobs in that field. He served in theArmyin theAlaska Territoryduring the final months ofWorld War II.[4]

Gene Autry,who before the war had cast Jones in several westerns, put him back to work through Autry's Flying A Pictures and, for television, his Flying A Productions. Jones guest-starred regularly onThe Gene Autry Showin the early 1950s.[3]

He appeared in a 1950 episode of the TV seriesThe Lone Rangertitled "Man Without a Gun". In 1950, at the age of twenty-three, he played the 16-year-old cook for a smallConfederate Armyunit in the filmRocky Mountain.[4]

By 1951, he was billed as Dick Jones, and starred as Dick West, sidekick to the Western hero known asThe Range Rider,played byJock Mahoney,in a Gene Autry television series that ran for seventy-six episodes insyndication,beginning in 1951.[3]

Jones was cast thereafter in 1954 and 1955 in four episodes ofAnnie Oakley,another Flying A Production. Autry gave Jones his own series,Buffalo Bill, Jr.(1955), which ran for forty-two episodes in syndication.

Jones's last acting role was as Cliff Fletcher in the 1965 filmRequiem for a Gunfighter.[3]

Honors

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In 2000, Dick Jones was named one of theDisney Legends.In early 2009, Jones performed promotional events for the Platinum Edition DVD and Blu-ray release ofPinocchio.[5]In March 2009, he was a guest star at theWilliamsburg Film Festival.

Personal life and death

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Jones married his wife Betty in 1948, together they had four children; Rick, Jeffrey, Jennifer and Melody.[6]They remained married until Jones' death in 2014.[6]

Jones died after a fall at his home on the evening of July 7, 2014, at the age of 87. At the time of his death, Jones was the last surviving cast member of Pinocchio.[7]

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^abDick Jones profile.The New York Times.Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  2. ^TheLos Angeles Times,in its story on Jones's death in July 2014 gives his place of birth asMcKinneyinCollin Countyin theDallas-Fort Worth metroplex.TheLA Timesalso listed his two daughters as his sisters.
  3. ^abcdBilly Hathorn, "Roy Bean, Temple Houston, Bill Longley, Ranald Mackenzie, Buffalo Bill, Jr., and the Texas Rangers: Depictions of West Texans in Series Television, 1955 to 1967",West Texas Historical Review,Vol. 89 (2013), pp. 113–115
  4. ^abc"Dickie Jones: Biography and Filmography".matineeclassics. Archived fromthe originalon August 10, 2014.RetrievedAugust 8,2014.
  5. ^"Pinocchio – Dickie Jones is the boy who gave Pinocchio his voice and his nose",The Telegraph(February 27, 2009).
  6. ^abAP (July 8, 2014)."Dick Jones dies at 87; actor who provided voice of Disney's Pinocchio".latimes.RetrievedMarch 28,2020.
  7. ^Colker, David (July 8, 2014)."Dick Jones dies at 87; actor who provided voice of Disney's Pinocchio".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedJuly 9,2014.

Further reading

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  • Dye, David.Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914–1985.Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988, pp. 118–119.
  • Holmstrom, John.The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995,Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, pp. 149–150.
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