Dean Jones
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"Life is not fair and Hollywood is even less fair."--Dean Jones discussing his hiatus from film during the decade after the "Herbie" movies, quoted in USA Today, October 28, 1991.
On his Disney movies Jones said, "I didn't want to play Hamlet. To make people laugh was a good thing to be about." --quoted in USA Today, October 28, 1991.
Biography
Over the course of more than half a century, Dean Jones built up a name synonymous with family-friendly entertainment. Kicking off his film career with the campy Walt Disney comedies of the 1960s, Jones eventually went on to explore spiritually-themed stage productions and action blockbusters like "Clear and Present Danger" (1994). No matter the variety of endeavors he attempted later in his career, Jones forever remained the wholesome comedian at the center of kooky family fare. Dean Carroll Jones was born on January 25, 1931 in Decatur, Alabama. A young Jones served in the United States Navy and attended Asbury University before exploring a career on the stage and screen. After accumulating a number of minor film and television parts throughout the 1950s, Jones leapt to a starring position on the sitcom "Ensign O'Toole" (NBC 1962-63), which in turn led him to roles in hit Walt Disney family comedies like "That Darn Cat!" (1965) and "The Love Bug" (1968). Jones enjoyed a brief stint in Stephen Sondheim's musical "Company" in 1970. Following a conversion to born-again Christianity after he stopped drinking, Jones branched out to heavier dramas like the political biography "Born Again" (1978) and pioneered Christianity-themed stage productions throughout the 1980s. After returning to his family comedy roots with the hit film "Beethoven" (1992), Jones played opposite Harrison Ford in the acclaimed crime drama "Clear and Present Danger" (1994). Jones spent the last years of his career playing small cameos and voiceover roles. On September 1, 2015, an 84-year-old Jones died following a battle with Parkinson's disease.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1956
Film debut in "Gaby" (uncredited), "Ten Thousand Bedrooms", "These Wilder Years" and "Tea and Sympathy"
1960
Appeared on Broadway in "Under the Yum Yum Tree"
1960
Broadway debut opposite Jane Fonda in the short-lived (ran three-weeks) play, "There Was a Little Girl"
1962
Played title role in TV series "Ensign O'Toole"
1963
Co-starred with Jack Lemmon in film version of "Under the Yum Yum Tree"
1965
Starred in first Disney hit, "That Darn Cat!"
1966
Starred with Suzanne Pleshette in "The Ugly Dachshund"
1966
Starred opposite Jane Fonda and Jason Robards in romantic comedy "Any Wednesday'
1968
Starred in "The Love Bug"
1969
Hosted TV series, "What's It All About, World"
1970
Starred on Broadway in Stephen Sondheim's "Company"; left after a few weeks into run (official reason was "hepatitis" but he was in the midst of a divorce), replaced by standby Larry Kert
1971
Starred on TV series "The Chicago Teddy Bears"
1976
Starred with Tim Conway and Suzanne Pleshette in "The Shaggy D.A."
1977
Starred in final Disney film, "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo"
1978
Portrayed Charles Colson in film "Born Again"
1982
Played Jim Douglas on short-lived TV series "Herbie, the Love Bug"
1986
Starred in a short-lived (ran five performances) Broadway musical, "Into the Light" about the Shroud of Turin
1991
Made feature film comeback in "Other People's Money"
2009
Made final film appearance in "Mandie and the Secret Tunnel"
Photo Collections
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"Life is not fair and Hollywood is even less fair."--Dean Jones discussing his hiatus from film during the decade after the "Herbie" movies, quoted in USA Today, October 28, 1991.
On his Disney movies Jones said, "I didn't want to play Hamlet. To make people laugh was a good thing to be about." --quoted in USA Today, October 28, 1991.
