Tommy Lee Jones

Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946 in San Saba, Texas, U.S.) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive.

Tommy Lee Jones
Jones at the 2017 Tokyo International Film Festival
Born (1946-09-15) September 15, 1946
San Saba, Texas, U.S.
EducationRobert E. Lee High School

St. Mark's School of Texas (1965)

Harvard College
Alma materHarvard University (AB)
Occupation
  • Actor
  • film director
Years active1969–present
WorksFull list
Spouses
  • Katherine Lardner
    (m. 1971; div. 1978)
  • Kimberlea Cloughley
    (m. 1981; div. 1996)
  • Dawn Laurel
    (m. 2001)
Children2
Parents
  • Clyde C. Jones (1926–1986) (father)
  • Lucille Marie (1928–2013) (mother)
Awards

His other notable starring roles include Texas Ranger Woodrow F. Call in the television miniseries Lonesome Dove, Agent K in the Men in Black film series, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in No Country for Old Men, Hank Deerfield in In the Valley of Elah, the villain Two-Face in Batman Forever, Mike Roark in the disaster film Volcano, terrorist William "Bill" Strannix in Under Siege, Texas Ranger Roland Sharp in Man of the House, rancher Pete Perkins in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (which he also directed), Colonel Chester Phillips in Captain America: The First Avenger, CIA Director Robert Dewey in Jason Bourne, and Warden Dwight McClusky in Natural Born Killers. He most recently appeared in the science fiction film Ad Astra in 2019 and in the comedy The Comeback Trail in 2020.

Jones has also portrayed historical figures such as businessman Howard Hughes in The Amazing Howard Hughes, Radical Republican Congressman Thaddeus Stevens in Lincoln, executed murderer Gary Gilmore in The Executioner's Song, U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur in Emperor, businessman Clay Shaw, the only person prosecuted in connection with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in JFK, Oliver Vanetta "Doolittle" Lynn, in Coal Miner's Daughter, and baseball player Ty Cobb in Cobb.

Early life

Jones as a junior in high school, 1964

Jones was born on September 15, 1946, in San Saba, Texas.[1] His mother, Lucille Marie (née Scott; 1928–2013),[2] was a police officer, school teacher, and beauty shop owner, and his father, Clyde C. Jones (1926–1986), was a cowboy and oil field worker.[3] The two were married and divorced twice. He has said that he is of part Cherokee descent.[4] He was raised in Midland, Texas,[5] and attended the then-named Robert E. Lee High School.

Jones soon moved to Dallas and graduated from the St. Mark's School of Texas in 1965,[6] which he attended on scholarship.

College

He attended Harvard College on need-based aid; his roommate was future Vice President Al Gore.[7] As an upperclassman, he lived in Dunster House[7] with roommates Gore and Bob Somerby, who later became editor of the media criticism site The Daily Howler. Jones graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1969; his senior thesis was on "the mechanics of Catholicism" in the works of Flannery O'Connor.[8][9] At Harvard, he was a pupil of dramatist Robert Chapman.[10][11]

College football

Tom Jones
No. 61
PositionGuard
MajorEnglish
Personal information
Born:September 15, 1946 (1946-09-15) (age 76)
San Saba, Texas
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career history
College
High schoolSt. Mark's (TX)
Career highlights and awards
  • 1st team All-Ivy League (1968)

Jones played guard[12] at Harvard from 1965 to 1968. He was a member of Harvard's undefeated 1968 football team. He was named as a first-team All-Ivy League selection, and played in the 1968 Game. The game featured a memorable and last-minute Harvard 16-point comeback to tie Yale. He recounted his memory of "the most famous football game in Ivy League history" in the documentary Harvard Beats Yale 29-29.

Career

Early acting and film (1960s–1980)

Jones in 2006

Jones moved to New York to become an actor, making his Broadway debut in 1969's A Patriot for Me in a number of supporting roles. In 1970, he landed his first film role, coincidentally playing a Harvard student in Love Story (Erich Segal, the author of Love Story, said that he based the lead character of Oliver on aspects of two undergraduate roommates he knew while on a sabbatical at Harvard, Jones and Al Gore).[13]

In early 1971, he returned to Broadway in Abe Burrows' Four on a Garden where he shared the stage with Carol Channing and Sid Caesar. Between 1971 and 1975 he portrayed Dr. Mark Toland on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live. He returned to the stage for a short-lived 1974 production of Ulysses in Nighttown, an adaptation of one episode from James Joyce's novel Ulysses, playing Stephen Dedalus opposite Zero Mostel's Leopold Bloom and directed by Burgess Meredith.[14] It was followed by the acclaimed TV movie The Amazing Howard Hughes, where he played the lead role.

In films, he played a hunted escaped convict in Jackson County Jail (1976); a Vietnam veteran in Rolling Thunder (1977); an automobile mogul, co-starring with Laurence Olivier, in the Harold Robbins drama The Betsy; and a police detective opposite Faye Dunaway in the 1978 thriller Eyes of Laura Mars.

In 1980, Jones earned his first Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of country singer Loretta Lynn's husband, Doolittle "Mooney" Lynn, in Coal Miner's Daughter. In 1981, he played a drifter opposite Sally Field in Back Roads, a comedy that received middling reviews.[15]

Increased exposure (1983–2004)

In 1983, he received an Emmy[16] for Best Actor for his performance as murderer Gary Gilmore in a TV adaptation of Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song. The same year, he starred in a pirate adventure, Nate and Hayes, playing pirate captain Bully Hayes.

In 1989, he earned another Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Texas Ranger Woodrow F. Call in the acclaimed television mini-series Lonesome Dove, based on the best-seller by Larry McMurtry.

In the 1990s, Jones was featured in blockbuster films such as JFK co-starring Kevin Costner, The Fugitive co-starring Harrison Ford, Batman Forever co-starring Val Kilmer, Volcano co-starring Anne Heche, and Men in Black with Will Smith. His performance as Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in The Fugitive received broad acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a sequel. When he accepted his Oscar, his head was shaved for his role in the film Cobb, which he made light of in his speech: "The only thing a man can say at a time like this is 'I am not really bald'. Actually I'm lucky to be working".

Among his other well-known performances during the 1990s were those of the accused conspirator Clay Shaw/Clay Bertrand in the 1991 film JFK (which earned him another Oscar nomination), as a terrorist who hijacks a U.S. Navy battleship in Under Siege and as a maximum-security prison warden who's in way over his head in Natural Born Killers. He also played the role of "Reverend" Roy Foltrigg in the 1994 film The Client.

Jones co-starred with director Clint Eastwood as astronauts in the 2000 film Space Cowboys, in which both played retired pilots and friends/rivals leading a space rescue mission together.

Later years (2005–present)

Jones at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival

In 2005, the first theatrical feature film Jones directed, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, was presented at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. Jones's character speaks both English and Spanish in the film. His performance won him the Best Actor Award at Cannes. His first film as a director had been The Good Old Boys in 1995, a made-for-television movie.

Two strong performances in 2007 marked a resurgence in Jones's career, one as a beleaguered father investigating the disappearance of his soldier son in In the Valley of Elah, the other as a Texas sheriff hunting an assassin in the Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men. For the former, he was nominated for an Academy Award.

Jones has been a spokesman for Japanese brewing company Suntory since 2006. He can be seen in various Japanese TV commercials of Suntory's Coffee brand Boss as a character called "Alien Jones," an extraterrestrial who takes the form of a human being to check on the world of humans. Many of these commercials can be seen on YouTube.[17] In 2011, Jones appeared in public service announcements on Japanese television, joining a number of other popular figures who sang two sentimental songs in remembrance of those lost in the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

In 2010, Jones appeared alongside Ben Affleck in the recession drama The Company Men. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where early reviews praised Jones's performance as "pitch-perfect."[18] Jones had a role in the Marvel Studios film, Captain America: The First Avenger.[19] He also directed, produced and co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson in an adaptation of The Sunset Limited.

In 2012, there was another turning point in Jones's career, starting with playing Agent K again in Men in Black 3, portraying Arnold Soames in the romantic dramedy Hope Springs, and co-starring as Thaddeus Stevens in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. Jones's performance in Lincoln received wide critical acclaim, and he was nominated for an Oscar for the fourth time, for Best Supporting Actor.

Personal life

Jones was married to Kate Lardner, the niece of screenwriter and journalist Ring Lardner Jr., from 1971 to 1978.[20] He has two children from his second marriage to Kimberlea Cloughley, the daughter of Phil Hardberger, former mayor of San Antonio.[21] On March 19, 2001, he married his third wife, Dawn Laurel.[22][23]

Jones resides in Terrell Hills, Texas, a city just outside of downtown San Antonio, and speaks Spanish.[24] He owns a 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) cattle ranch in San Saba County, Texas,[25] and a ranch near Van Horn, Texas, which served as the set for his film The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. He owned an equestrian estate in Wellington, Florida, until he sold it in 2019. Jones is a polo player, and he has a house in a polo country club in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a supporter of the Polo Training Foundation.[26] He is an avid San Antonio Spurs fan; he is often seen courtside at Spurs games.[27][28] At the 2000 Democratic National Convention, he gave the nominating speech for his former college roommate, Al Gore, as the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States.[29]

Awards and nominations

Year Title Accolade Results
1981 Coal Miner's Daughter Golden Globe Award, Best Lead Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical Nominated
1983 The Executioner's Song Primetime Emmy Award, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special Won
1989 Lonesome Dove Nominated
1990 Golden Globe Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Nominated
Western Heritage Award, Television Feature Film Won
1992 JFK Academy Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
1993 The Fugitive Award Circuit Community Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
JFK British Academy Film Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Boston Film Festival Award, Film Excellence Award Won
The Fugitive Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
New York Film Critics Circle Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
1994 Academy Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
British Academy Film Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Chicago Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Golden Globe Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Won
MTV Movie + TV Award, Best On-Screen Duo (shared with Harrison Ford) Won
National Society of Film Critics Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
Walk of Fame - Star on the Walk of Fame, Motion Picture 6925 Hollywood, Blvd. Won
1995 The Good Old Boys CableACE Award, Best Actor in a Movie or Miniseries Nominated
Cobb Chicago Film Critics Association Award, Best Lead Actor Nominated
The Good Old Boys Lone Star Film & Television Award, Best Television Director Won
Lone Star Film & Television Award, Best Television Actor Won
Blown Away MTV Movie + TV Award, Best Villain Nominated
1996 Batman Forever Nominated
The Good Old Boys Screen Actors Guild Award, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries Nominated
1997 USA Film Festival Award, Master Screen Artist Tribute Won
1998 Men in Black Blockbuster Entertainment Award, Favorite Lead Actor - Sci-Fi Nominated
MTV Movie + TV Award, Best On-Screen Duo (shared with Will Smith) Nominated
Online Film & Television Association Award, Best Lead Actor in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror Nominated
Satellite Award, Best Lead Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical Nominated
1999 U.S. Marshals Blockbuster Entertainment Award, Favorite Duo - Action/Adventure (shared with Wesley Snipes) Nominated
2000 Double Jeopardy Blockbuster Entertainment Award, Favorite Lead Actor - Suspense Nominated
Palm Beach International Film Festival Award, Lifetime Achievement Award - Acting Won
2001 Space Cowboys Blockbuster Entertainment Award, Favorite Action Team - Internet Only

(shared with Clint Eastwood, James Garner, Donald Sutherland)

Nominated
2003 Golden Boot Award, Golden Boot Won
2004 The Missing AARP Movies for Grownups Award, Best Lead Actor Nominated
2005 The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada Cannes Film Festival Award, Best Actor Won
Cannes Film Festival Award, Palme d'Or Nominated
Ghent International Film festival Award, Grand Prize Award Won
Satellite Award, Best Lead Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama Nominated
2006 A Prairie Home Companion Gotham Award, Best Ensemble Performance Nominated
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada Independent Spirit Award, Best Feature Nominated
Western Heritage Award, Theatrical Motion Picture Won
2007 In the Valley of Elah Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award, Best Lead Actor Nominated
A Prairie Home Companion Critics Choice Award, Best Acting Ensemble Nominated
In the Valley of Elah Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award, Best Lead Actor Nominated
No Country for Old Men Detroit Film Critics Society Award, Best Lead Actor Nominated
A Prairie Home Companion Gold Derby Award, Best Ensemble Cast Nominated
No Country for Old Men Indiewire Critics Poll Award, Best Supporting Performance Nominated
National Board of Review Award, Best Acting by an Ensemble Won
San Diego Film Critics Society Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
In the Valley of Elah Satellite Award, Best Lead Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama Nominated
St. Louis Film Critics Association Award, Best Lead Actor Nominated
No Country for Old Men St. Louis Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
In the Valley of Elah Village Voice Film Poll Award, Best Lead Actor Nominated
2008 AARP Movies for Grownups Award, Best Lead Actor Nominated
Academy Award, Best Lead Actor Nominated
No Country for Old Men British Academy Film Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Critics Choice Award, Best Acting Ensemble Nominated
Gold Derby Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Gold Derby Award, Best Ensemble Cast Won
International Cinephile Society Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
International Online Cinema Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
In the Valley of Elah Italian Online Movie Award, Best Lead Actor Nominated
London Critics Circle Film Award, Actor of the Year Nominated
Santa Barbara International Film Festival Award, American Riviera Award Won
No Country for Old Men Screen Actors Guild Award, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Award, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Motion Picture Won
2009 International Online Film Critics Poll Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
2010 The Company Men Satellite Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Nominated
2011 Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award, Most Egregious Age Difference Between the Leading Man and the Love Interest (shared with Maria Bello) Nominated
The Sunset Limited Gold Derby Award, Best Television Movie/Miniseries Lead Actor Nominated
Captain America: The First Avenger Scream Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
2012 Lincoln Award Circuit Community Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Award Circuit Community Award, Best Cast Ensemble Nominated
Black Film Critics Circle Award, Best Ensemble Won
Boston Online Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
Detroit Film Critics Society Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Houston Film Critics Society Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
Indiana Film Journalists Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
Indiewire Film Critics Poll Award, Best Supporting Performance Nominated
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
Nevada Film Critics Society Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
Nevada Film Critics Society Award, Best Ensemble Cast Won
New York Film Critics Circle Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
New York Film Critics Online Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
Phoenix Film Critics Society award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
The Sunset Limited Prism Award, Performance in a Television Movie or Miniseries Nominated
Lincoln San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
San Sebastian International Film Festival Award, Donastia Lifetime Achievement Award Won
Lincoln Satellite Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Nominated
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Southeastern Film Critics Association Award, Best Ensemble Won
St. Louis Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Toronto Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Village Voice Film Poll Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
2013 Academy Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Hope Springs AAPR Movies for Grownups Award, Best Love Story (shared with Meryl Streep) Nominated
Lincoln AARP Movies for Grownups Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
British Academy Film Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Critics Choice Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Denver Film Critics Society Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Gold Derby Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Gold Derby Award, Best Ensemble Cast Nominated
Golden Globe Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Nominated
Iowa Film Critics Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
Italian Online Movie Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Hope Springs Jupiter Award, Best International Actor Won
Lincoln London Critics Circle Film Award, Supporting Actor of the Year Nominated
National Society of Film Critics Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
North Texas Film Critics Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
Online Film & Television Association Award, Best Supporting Actor Won
Online Film Critics Society Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Award, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Won
Screen Actors Guild Award, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Motion Picture Nominated
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award, Best Supporting Actor Nominated
2014 The Homesman Cannes Film Festival Award, Palme d'Or Nominated
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award, Best Lead Actor Nominated
Women Film Critics Circle Award, Best Lead Actor Nominated
2015 AARP Movies for Grownups Award, Best Lead Actor Nominated
Almeria Western Film Festival Award, Best Feature Film Won
Georgia Film Critics Association Award, Best Feature Nominated

Western honors

2009 Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame[30]
2015 Texas Film Hall of Fame[31]
2016 Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma[32]

See also

  • Notable alumni of St. Mark's School of Texas

References

  1. Weinraub, Bernard (August 1, 1993). "FILM; Tommy Lee Jones Snarls His Way to the Pinnacle". The New York Times. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
  2. "Tommy Lee Jones". IMDb. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  3. "Tommy Lee Jones". Biography. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  4. Blue Clark, Indian Tribes of Oklahoma: A Guide, University of Oklahoma Press (2012), p. 75
  5. Waycross Journal-Herald, November 6, 1982, page 4, Google News.
  6. Hollandsworth, Skip (February 1, 2006). "Tommy Lee Jones Is Not Acting". Texas Monthly. Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2013., online at Byliner.com. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
  7. "The Year of Tommy Lee Jones - News - The Harvard Crimson". The Harvard Crimson.
  8. Scott, A. O. (February 7, 2005). "Big Questions, Smart Women, Mann's Movies". The New York Times. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  9. Laporte, Nicole (February 6, 2011). "True Gruff". The Daily Beast. Newsweek. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  10. Richards, David (March 24, 1986). "Lemmon, With a New Twist". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  11. Eric Pace (October 24, 2000). Robert Chapman, 81, Playwright And Retired Harvard Professor. The New York Times.
  12. Charles McGrath (November 20, 2008). "Harvard Beats Yale 29–29". Yale Alumni Magazine. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  13. Fox, Margalit (January 20, 2010). "Erich Segal, 'Love Story' Author, Dies at 72". The New York Times. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
  14. "Ulysses in Nighttown". IBDB. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  15. "Back Roads". Business Date for Back Roads. IMDb. Retrieved March 12, 2006.
  16. "Tommy Lee Jones Emmy Nominated". Emmys.com. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  17. "いいなCM サントリー BOSS 宇宙人ジョーンズシリーズ (Suntory Boss - Space Alien Jones Series)". YouTube. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2013.
  18. Review: The Company Men – Sundance Film Festival – Film.com Archived January 31, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  19. "Tommy Lee Jones Officially Comes Aboard Captain America: The First Avenger". MovieWeb.com. May 27, 2010.
  20. Shanahan, Mark (January 28, 2016). "Want to score actor's Harvard pendant?". Boston Globe. Retrieved July 1, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. COGGIN, DEB (December 7, 2020). "Who Is Tommy Lee Jones' Wife, Dawn Laurel-Jones?". Retrieved November 24, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. "BBC – Movies – interview – Tommy Lee Jones". BBC. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  23. "Why lee jones loves black comedy - News". Scotsman.com. August 1, 2002. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  24. "Palm Beach Today Magazine: Polo Training Foundation". Palmbeachtoday.net. February 27, 2009. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  25. "Celebrities who back Spurs, Heat". mySA.com. June 10, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  26. "Tommy Lee Jones at MNA Finals". Getty Images North America. June 10, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  27. "Tommy Lee Jones' Speech Text". ABC News. August 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  28. "Tommy Lee Jones - 2009". Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. November 20, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  29. "Texas Film Hall Of Fame". Austin Film Society. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  30. "Great Western Performers". National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Retrieved March 19, 2020.

Further reading

  • Grunert, Andrea, "Les bons et les méchants selon Tommy Lee Jones", in: Francis Bordat et Serge Chauvin (eds.) Les bons et les méchants Université Paris X, 2005, p. 339–352, ISBN 2-907335-30-8
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