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Gordon Jones

Gordon Jones

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Gordon Wynnivo Jones (April 5, 1911 – June 20, 1963) was an American character actor, a member of John Wayne's informal acting company best known for playing Lou Costello's TV nemesis "Mike the Cop" and appearing as The Green Hornet in the first of two movie serials based on that old-time radio program. Iowa-born Jones had been a student athlete and star football guard ("Bull" Jones) at University of California, Los Angeles, and had also played a few seasons of professional football. He started out playing small roles in Wesley Ruggles' and Ernest B. Schoedsack's The Monkey's Paw (1933), his first credited role in Sam Wood's Let 'Em Have It (1935), and Sidney Lanfield's Red Salute (1935). By 1937, he had moved on to a contract at RKO Radio Pictures. In 1940, Jones had the title role in The Green Hornet but did not reprise the role in the sequel. Jones held a reserve commission in the army and was called into the service after filming his roles as "The Wreck" in My Sister Eileen (1942) and "Alabama Smith" in Flying Tigers (1942), a John Wayne vehicle that was one of the most popular action films of the war. This picture began Jones' 20-year onscreen association with Wayne, who was also a former football player at the University of Southern California. Jones remained associated with the service after the war, encouraging college students to consider the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. After resuming his acting career in the late 1940s, Jones appeared in prominent roles in the John Wayne features Big Jim McLain (1952) and Island in the Sky (1953). By the end of the 1940s, Jones had aged into a beefier screen presence and into very physical character roles. He was no longer a leading man but he had developed a comic villain persona which meshed with the work of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Jones' association with the duo began in The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947) with the role of the film's heavy, Jake Frame, and continued through their television series The Abbott and Costello Show. Jones played "Mike the Cop", Costello's hulking, loud-voiced antagonist. The program was produced for only two seasons, but ensured continued recognition for Jones via frequent reruns and a 21st Century DVD release. Jones also remained busy in films and on television throughout the 1950s, in pictures that ranged from the sci-fi chiller The Monster That Challenged the World to the Tony Curtis/Janet Leigh sex comedy The Perfect Furlough, and on TV series ranging from The Real McCoys to The Rifleman. Jones also appeared in two very successful Disney movies during the early '60s, The Absent-Minded Professor and Son of Flubber. He played harried school coaches in both pictures. He also starred with Mitzi Green and Virginia Gibson in the short-lived TV sitcom So This Is Hollywood (1955), and had a recurring role as neighbor Butch Barton during the early years of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Jones returned to the John Wayne stock company portraying Douglas, the bureaucrat antagonist to Wayne's G.W. McLintock in the Western comedy McLintock! (1963). Jones unexpectedly succumbed to a heart attack on June 12, 1963, five months before the release of that movie. Jones has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the West side of the 1600 block of Vine Street.

Personal information

Birthday

1911-04-05

Birth Place

Alden, Iowa, USA

Movies and TV shows :

poster

77 Sunset Strip

1958

6.7

TV
A Foreign Affair

A Foreign Affair

1948

7.0

Movie
Among the Living

Among the Living

1941

6.1

Movie
Battle Flame

Battle Flame

1959

6.0

Movie
Battle of the Coral Sea

Battle of the Coral Sea

1959

5.6

Movie
Belle of Old Mexico

Belle of Old Mexico

1950

0.0

Movie
Big Jim McLain

Big Jim McLain

1952

5.0

Movie
Big Timber

Big Timber

1950

0.0

Movie
Big Town Czar

Big Town Czar

1939

0.0

Movie
Black Eagle

Black Eagle

1948

6.0

Movie
Black Midnight

Black Midnight

1949

6.0

Movie
poster

Cavalcade of America

1952

3.5

TV
poster

Cheyenne

1955

5.8

TV
China Passage

China Passage

1937

5.5

Movie
Corky of Gasoline Alley

Corky of Gasoline Alley

1951

0.0

Movie
poster

Dangerous Assignment

1952

3.5

TV
Dear Wife

Dear Wife

1949

6.0

Movie
poster

Dennis the Menace

1959

6.7

TV
Devil's Squadron

Devil's Squadron

1936

6.0

Movie
Disputed Passage

Disputed Passage

1939

5.5

Movie
Don't Turn 'em Loose

Don't Turn 'em Loose

1936

4.8

Movie
Easy Living

Easy Living

1949

5.9

Movie
Everything's Ducky

Everything's Ducky

1961

7.5

Movie
Fight for Your Lady

Fight for Your Lady

1937

4.3

Movie
Flying Tigers

Flying Tigers

1942

6.2

Movie
Girl from Havana

Girl from Havana

1940

5.0

Movie
Gobs and Gals

Gobs and Gals

1952

0.0

Movie
poster

Have Gun, Will Travel

1957

7.4

TV
poster

Hawaiian Eye

1959

5.2

TV
Heart of the Rockies

Heart of the Rockies

1951

6.0

Movie
Henry Goes Arizona

Henry Goes Arizona

1939

6.0

Movie
Highways by Night

Highways by Night

1942

6.0

Movie
I Stand Accused

I Stand Accused

1938

0.0

Movie
I Take This Oath

I Take This Oath

1940

4.3

Movie
poster

I'm the Law

1953

5.0

TV
Invitation to Happiness

Invitation to Happiness

1939

0.0

Movie
Island in the Sky

Island in the Sky

1953

6.2

Movie
poster

Laramie

1959

6.4

TV
poster

Lassie

1954

6.1

TV
Let 'em Have It

Let 'em Have It

1935

7.0

Movie
Live Fast, Die Young

Live Fast, Die Young

1958

5.7

Movie
Master of the World

Master of the World

1961

5.9

Movie
poster

Maverick

1957

6.8

TV
McLintock!

McLintock!

1963

6.5

Movie
Mr. Soft Touch

Mr. Soft Touch

1949

6.8

Movie
My Sister Eileen

My Sister Eileen

1942

6.7

Movie
Night Waitress

Night Waitress

1936

5.8

Movie
North of the Great Divide

North of the Great Divide

1950

0.0

Movie
Out West with the Hardys

Out West with the Hardys

1938

6.3

Movie
poster

Perry Mason

1957

7.7

TV
Pride of the Navy

Pride of the Navy

1939

0.0

Movie
Quick Money

Quick Money

1937

4.0

Movie
poster

Racket Squad

1951

6.0

TV
Red Salute

Red Salute

1935

5.8

Movie
Rich Man, Poor Girl

Rich Man, Poor Girl

1938

5.9

Movie
poster

Richard Diamond, Private Detective

1957

6.2

TV
Sea Devils

Sea Devils

1937

5.7

Movie
Shoot-Out At Medicine Bend

Shoot-Out At Medicine Bend

1957

6.1

Movie
Smoke Signal

Smoke Signal

1955

6.7

Movie
Sons of Adventure

Sons of Adventure

1948

0.0

Movie
Sound Off

Sound Off

1952

0.0

Movie
Spoilers of the Plains

Spoilers of the Plains

1951

6.0

Movie
Spring Reunion

Spring Reunion

1957

5.8

Movie
Strike Me Pink

Strike Me Pink

1936

6.6

Movie
poster

Sugarfoot

1957

4.8

TV
Sunset in the West

Sunset in the West

1950

7.8

Movie
poster

Surfside 6

1960

5.0

TV
Take the High Ground!

Take the High Ground!

1953

5.7

Movie
poster

The Abbott and Costello Show

1952

7.3

TV
The Abbott and Costello Show: Who's On First?

The Abbott and Costello Show: Who's On First?

2011

8.0

Movie
poster

The Adventures of Jim Bowie

1956

3.7

TV
poster

The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok

1951

4.5

TV
The Arizona Cowboy

The Arizona Cowboy

1950

0.0

Movie
The Big Shot

The Big Shot

1937

5.0

Movie
The Blonde from Singapore

The Blonde from Singapore

1941

5.0

Movie
poster

The Case of the Dangerous Robin

1960

0.0

TV
poster

The Colgate Comedy Hour

1950

7.0

TV
The Doctor Takes a Wife

The Doctor Takes a Wife

1940

6.5

Movie
The Feminine Touch

The Feminine Touch

1941

5.1

Movie
poster

The Gene Autry Show

1950

4.8

TV
The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon

The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon

1952

0.0

Movie
The Green Hornet

The Green Hornet

1940

5.5

Movie
poster

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

1955

6.7

TV
The Long Shot

The Long Shot

1939

5.8

Movie
poster

The Lucy Show

1962

7.1

TV
poster

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

1959

5.9

TV
The Monster That Challenged the World

The Monster That Challenged the World

1957

5.6

Movie
The Outlaw Stallion

The Outlaw Stallion

1954

5.0

Movie
The Palomino

The Palomino

1950

0.0

Movie
The Perfect Furlough

The Perfect Furlough

1958

7.1

Movie
poster

The Rifleman

1958

7.0

TV
The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond

1960

5.8

Movie
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

1947

6.7

Movie
The Shaggy Dog

The Shaggy Dog

1959

6.1

Movie
The Texas Rangers Ride Again

The Texas Rangers Ride Again

1940

5.5

Movie
The Untamed Breed

The Untamed Breed

1948

5.0

Movie
The Winning Team

The Winning Team

1952

5.5

Movie
The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap

The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap

1947

6.1

Movie
There Goes My Girl

There Goes My Girl

1937

0.0

Movie
They Wanted to Marry

They Wanted to Marry

1937

5.0

Movie
Tokyo Joe

Tokyo Joe

1949

6.1

Movie
Trail of Robin Hood

Trail of Robin Hood

1950

4.7

Movie
Treasure of Ruby Hills

Treasure of Ruby Hills

1955

4.0

Movie
Trigger, Jr.

Trigger, Jr.

1950

4.6

Movie
Up in the Air

Up in the Air

1940

5.5

Movie
Wagon Team

Wagon Team

1952

6.0

Movie
Walking on Air

Walking on Air

1936

5.8

Movie
We Who Are About to Die

We Who Are About to Die

1937

6.8

Movie
Whispering City

Whispering City

1947

4.8

Movie
Wild Girl

Wild Girl

1932

6.0

Movie
Woman They Almost Lynched

Woman They Almost Lynched

1953

6.2

Movie
You Belong to Me

You Belong to Me

1941

5.8

Movie
Youth Runs Wild

Youth Runs Wild

1944

4.2

Movie