Anecdotes

Was one of Sam Peckinpah's favorite actors.

Is a former horse and cattle rancher.

Profiled in "Names You Never Remember, With Faces You Never Forget" by Justin Humphreys (BearManor Media).

Attended the University of Texas at Austin in the late 1940s, after his military service, where he studied Law. His roommate for a while was Fess Parker.

The first hour-long TV western, Cheyenne (1955), starred Clint Walker and Jones played his sidekick, Smitty. He was dropped after three episodes, and Cheyenne went the rest of the way alone.

For Casino (1995), Martin Scorsese had him write his own dialogue (or rather, rearrange it) since Scorsese didn't know exactly how a Texan would speak . . . he wanted Jones to make the role his own.

Was adept at portraying a wide range of character roles, both sympathetic to villainous, and comedic to dramatic.

Served in the US Navy.

Was a guest at the 2012 Memphis Film Festival's "A Gathering of Guns 4: A TV Western Reunion" at the Whispering Woods Hotel and Conference Center in Olive Branch, MS.

Named directors Martin Scorsese and Raoul Walsh as two men who knew all about movies, and never stopped talking about them.

Adopted his screen name after the character he played on Le cri de la victoire (1955). In that movie he is credited as Justus E. McQueen, his actual name.

That his character dies in The Last Show (2006) puts him on a list of notable actors whose very last movie role in a theatrical release portrays a character who dies. Examples of others on that list include John Wayne in Le dernier des géants (1976), Edward G. Robinson in Soleil vert (1973), and Ethel Barrymore in Johnny la Bagarre (1957).

His last picture with Sam Peckinpah was Pat Garrett et Billy le Kid (1973), about which he always had mixed feelings. After that he became a director himself on Apocalypse 2024 (1975), and then mostly appeared on episodic television until the 1990s.