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Christopher Jones (actor)
Encyclopedia
William "Billy" Frank Jones, better known as Christopher Jones, is an American
character actor
, born August 18, 1941 in Jackson, Tennessee
.
With looks and a manner strikingly reminiscent of the late James Dean
, Jones came from a similar background to Dean's, but his interest in the arts began with drawing
, which earned him an Art school
scholarship in his teens. Jones's enjoyment of movies interested him in acting, and he began to study filmed performances, particularly those of James Dean (East of Eden) and Elvis Presley
(Love Me Tender
), whom he considered his first idol. After serving briefly in the United States Army
(and going AWOL to visit Dean's family in Fairmount, Indiana
), Jones studied painting
in New York City
, then began acting classes.
Befriended by Frank Corsaro
, who had also been a friend of Dean's, Jones (adopting the stage name Christopher) made his Broadway
debut on December 17, 1961, in Tennessee Williams
's The Night of the Iguana
, directed by Corsaro and starring actress Shelley Winters
. Winters introduced Jones to Susan Strasberg
, an actress herself, and the daughter of Method acting
progenitor Lee Strasberg
. Jones went on to study at Strasberg's Actors Studio
, and despite personal friction between Lee and himself, "Chris" went on to marry Susan in 1965. The couple had a daughter, named Jennifer Robin Jones, in 1966.
Moving to Hollywood
, Jones was cast in the title role of an ABC
television series
, The Legend of Jesse James
(produced by 20th Century Fox
), which ran for thirty-four episodes in the 1965-1966 season. When the series ended, he accepted the role of Strasberg's lover/husband in the movie Chubasco
. The marriage did not long survive the filming, for the couple divorce
d in 1968.
Jones's next acting job, as rock
star and Presidential wannabe Max Frost
in the 1968 cult classic
Wild in the Streets
(costarring Shelley Winters), propelled Jones to the peak of his stardom. He appeared later that same year with Yvette Mimieux
, in the sex comedy Three in the Attic
. Jones also became friends with actress Sharon Tate
and her husband Roman Polanski
. He claimed later to have had an affair with Tate (while she was pregnant with Polanski's child), and to have had a premonition of her death, before she was murdered by members of the Manson family
.
After two films in Europe with Pia Degermark
(The Looking Glass War and Brief Season), Jones was cast by legendary movie director David Lean
in Ryan's Daughter
. Jones proved out of his element working with Lean. The two men were frustrated by each other. To make matters worse, production of the film took twelve months instead of the expected six. This and the death of Sharon Tate took a personal toll on Jones, who returned from Ireland
to California after filming ended (staying for a time in the caretaker's cottage behind the house
where Tate had died), and abandoned his acting career.
Living off his earnings, Jones resumed painting, and fathered another five children. He spurned offers to return to the screen, even after his personal fortunes and health declined, and passed on the role of Zed in Quentin Tarantino
's groundbreaking Pulp Fiction
in 1994. Jones made a brief return to film in 1996, with a small part in former co-star Larry Bishop
's Mad Dog Time
, but has no other plans for acting roles.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
, born August 18, 1941 in Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...
.
With looks and a manner strikingly reminiscent of the late James Dean
James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
, Jones came from a similar background to Dean's, but his interest in the arts began with drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
, which earned him an Art school
Art school
Art school is a general term for any educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. The term applies to institutions with elementary, secondary, post-secondary or undergraduate, or graduate or...
scholarship in his teens. Jones's enjoyment of movies interested him in acting, and he began to study filmed performances, particularly those of James Dean (East of Eden) and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
(Love Me Tender
Love Me Tender (1956 film)
Love Me Tender is a 1956 American black-and-white CinemaScope motion picture directed by Robert D. Webb, and released by 20th Century Fox on November 21, 1956. The film, named after the song, stars Richard Egan, Debra Paget, and Elvis Presley in his film debut. It is in the Western genre with...
), whom he considered his first idol. After serving briefly in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
(and going AWOL to visit Dean's family in Fairmount, Indiana
Fairmount, Indiana
Fairmount is a town in Fairmount Township, Grant County in the east central part of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 2,992 at the 2000 census. It is ninety kilometers northeast of Indianapolis...
), Jones studied painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, then began acting classes.
Befriended by Frank Corsaro
Frank Corsaro
Frank Corsaro is one of America's foremost stage directors of opera and theatre. His Broadway productions include The Night of the Iguana ....
, who had also been a friend of Dean's, Jones (adopting the stage name Christopher) made his Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut on December 17, 1961, in Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
's The Night of the Iguana
The Night of the Iguana
The Night of the Iguana is a stageplay written by American author Tennessee Williams, based on his 1948 short story. The play premiered on Broadway in 1961. Two film adaptations have been made, including the Academy Award-winning 1964 film of the same name....
, directed by Corsaro and starring actress Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
. Winters introduced Jones to Susan Strasberg
Susan Strasberg
Susan Elizabeth Strasberg was an American film and stage actress.-Background and career:Strasberg was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of theatre director and drama coach Lee Strasberg of the Actors Studio and former actress Paula Strasberg...
, an actress herself, and the daughter of Method acting
Method acting
Method acting is a phrase that loosely refers to a family of techniques used by actors to create in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters, so as to develop lifelike performances...
progenitor Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
. Jones went on to study at Strasberg's Actors Studio
Actors Studio
The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow who provided...
, and despite personal friction between Lee and himself, "Chris" went on to marry Susan in 1965. The couple had a daughter, named Jennifer Robin Jones, in 1966.
Moving to Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
, Jones was cast in the title role of an ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
, The Legend of Jesse James
The Legend of Jesse James (TV series)
The Legend of Jesse James is a 34-episode western television series starring Christopher Jones in the tile role of notorious outlaw Jesse James which aired on ABC from September 13, 1965, to May 9, 1966...
(produced by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
), which ran for thirty-four episodes in the 1965-1966 season. When the series ended, he accepted the role of Strasberg's lover/husband in the movie Chubasco
Chubasco
A chubasco is a violent squall with thunder and lightning, encountered during the rainy season along the Pacific coast of Mexico, Central America, South America and the American Southwest. It is also widely used when rain is accompanied by strong winds in other Spanish-speaking countries.The word...
. The marriage did not long survive the filming, for the couple divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d in 1968.
Jones's next acting job, as rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
star and Presidential wannabe Max Frost
Max Frost and the Troopers
Max Frost and The Troopers was a fictional rock music group created for the exploitation film Wild in the Streets, released in 1968. The film featured Christopher Jones as the highly influential singer Max Frost. The songs performed by Frost and his band, a group that was never formally named in...
in the 1968 cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
Wild in the Streets
Wild in the Streets
Wild in the Streets is a 1968 film featuring Christopher Jones, Hal Holbrook, and Shelley Winters. It was produced by American International Pictures and based on a short story by writer Robert Thom...
(costarring Shelley Winters), propelled Jones to the peak of his stardom. He appeared later that same year with Yvette Mimieux
Yvette Mimieux
Yvette Carmen Mimieux is a retired American movie and television actress.-Early life and career:Yvette Mimieux was born in Los Angeles, California, to a French father and Mexican mother, Carmen Montemayor...
, in the sex comedy Three in the Attic
Three in the Attic
Three in the Attic is a 1968 movie, starring Christopher Jones and Yvette Mimieux, with Judy Pace and Maggie Thrett. Nan Martin, John Beck, and Eve McVeagh appear in supporting roles.-Premise:...
. Jones also became friends with actress Sharon Tate
Sharon Tate
Sharon Marie Tate was an American actress. During the 1960s she played small television roles before appearing in several films. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic performances, she was hailed as one of Hollywood's promising newcomers and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for...
and her husband Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
. He claimed later to have had an affair with Tate (while she was pregnant with Polanski's child), and to have had a premonition of her death, before she was murdered by members of the Manson family
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
.
After two films in Europe with Pia Degermark
Pia Degermark
Pia Charlotte Caminneci Degermark is a Swedish former actress.-Life and career:Degermark came to international notice as the lead in Elvira Madigan , directed by Bo Widerberg, for which she won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967...
(The Looking Glass War and Brief Season), Jones was cast by legendary movie director David Lean
David Lean
Sir David Lean CBE was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best remembered for big-screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai , Lawrence of Arabia ,...
in Ryan's Daughter
Ryan's Daughter
Ryan's Daughter is a 1970 film directed by David Lean. The film, set in 1916, tells the story of a married Irish woman who has an affair with a British officer during World War I, despite opposition from her nationalist neighbours...
. Jones proved out of his element working with Lean. The two men were frustrated by each other. To make matters worse, production of the film took twelve months instead of the expected six. This and the death of Sharon Tate took a personal toll on Jones, who returned from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
to California after filming ended (staying for a time in the caretaker's cottage behind the house
10050 Cielo Drive
The original home located at 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, California, has been occupied by many famous Hollywood figures, and was the scene of one of the Manson "family" murders. The house was designed by Robert Byrd in 1942 for French actress Michèle Morgan...
where Tate had died), and abandoned his acting career.
Living off his earnings, Jones resumed painting, and fathered another five children. He spurned offers to return to the screen, even after his personal fortunes and health declined, and passed on the role of Zed in Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
's groundbreaking Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...
in 1994. Jones made a brief return to film in 1996, with a small part in former co-star Larry Bishop
Larry Bishop
Larry Bishop is an American actor, screenwriter and movie director. He is the son of Sylvia Ruzga and comedian Joey Bishop...
's Mad Dog Time
Mad Dog Time
Mad Dog Time is a 1996 ensemble cast crime film written and directed by Larry Bishop, released through United Artists...
, but has no other plans for acting roles.