- Born
- Died
- Birth nameDuane L. Jones
- Height1.88 m
- Cult figure who will forever be remembered as Ben, the resourceful, yet ill-fated hero of George A. Romero's low-budget zombie film La Nuit des morts-vivants (1968). Jones was a former English professor who directed at the Maguire Theater at the Old Westbury campus of New York State University, and he additionally served as artistic director at the Richard Allen Center in New York City. His casting as the hero of the Romero film was unique, as it was the first occasion that an African-American actor had portrayed the hero in a horror film. The tall, talented Jones appeared in a handful of other B-grade horror movies such as Ganja & Hess (1973) and Vampires (1986), but none are remembered as well as his first on-screen role.
He passed away at only 51 years of age from heart failure.- IMDb mini biography by: firehouse44
- ParentsMildred Gordon Jones
- RelativesMarva Jones Brooks(Sibling)Henry Jones(Sibling)
- His role in La Nuit des morts-vivants (1968) was the first time in American cinema that a black actor was cast in a lead role of a major motion picture that did not specify that the part had to be played by a black actor.
- In an audio interview conducted shortly before his untimely death in 1988, Jones recalled an occasion during which he met with a group of his theater students at a local café near the Old Westbury campus on Long Island, New York, when they were suddenly awestruck at a film that happened to be playing on TV in the café. Duane turned around and realized that the movie was none other than La Nuit des morts-vivants (1968). His students were amazed to see their professor on screen, because Jones had rarely mentioned his movie roles to his students. After this occasion, the word spread that "Night of the Living Dead's" star hero was teaching at Old Westbury College.
- Morgan Jones's son on The Walking Dead (2010) was named Duane Jones in his honor.
- At the time of his death, Dr. Duane Jones was the head of the Theater Department at the State University of New York at Old Westbury.
- According to his La Nuit des morts-vivants (1968) co-star Karl Hardman, Jones was very different from Ben, his character in the film: Ben's "dialogue was that of a lower-class, uneducated person. Duane Jones was a very well-educated man. He was fluent in a number of languages." Jones had also dabbled in writing, painting, and music.
- It never occurred to me that I was hired because I was black, but it did occur to me that because I was black it would give a different historic element to the film. (on being cast as Ben in La Nuit des morts-vivants (1968))
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content