Actor

1912-08-01 · New Jersey · Male

57 series in the catalog

Henry Burk Jones (August 1, 1912 – May 17, 1999) was an American actor of stage, film, and television.

Early years

Jones was born in New Jersey, and was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Helen (née Burk) and John Francis Xavier Jones. He was the grandson of Pennsylvania Representative Henry Burk, a German immigrant. Jones attended the St. Joseph's Preparatory School.

Career

Early in his career, he performed with the Hedgerow Theatre near Philadelphia. His first Broadway appearance was in Maurice Evans's 1938 Hamlet. During World War II, he served in the Army and was cast in Irving Berlin's This is the Army.

Jones is remembered for his role as handyman Leroy Jessup in the movie The Bad Seed (1956), a role he originated on Broadway. Other theater credits included My Sister Eileen, The Time of Your Life, They Knew What They Wanted, The Solid Gold Cadillac, and Sunrise at Campobello, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Performance in a Drama. His last Broadway role was in Advise and Consent in 1960–1961.

Jones appeared in more than 180 films and television shows. His screen credits included The Girl Can't Help It with Jayne Mansfield, 3:10 to Yuma with Van Heflin, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? with Jayne Mansfield and Tony Randall, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo with James Stewart, Cash McCall with James Garner, The Bramble Bush with Richard Burton, Rascal with Bill Mumy, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Paul Newman and Robert Redford, Dirty Dingus Magee with Frank Sinatra, Support Your Local Sheriff with James Garner and Walter Brennan, Support Your Local Gunfighter with James Garner, 9 to 5 with Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin, and Arachnophobia with Jeff Daniels.

On television, Jones' best-remembered role was as the title character's father-in-law in the 1970s sitcom Phyllis. Jones portrayed Jed McCoy on a 1961 episode of the sitcom The Real McCoys. He had a regular role on the drama Channing, with Jason Evers.

Jones also appeared on Appointment with Adventure; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; The Investigators; The Eleventh Hour; Bewitched; Night Gallery; The Big Valley; Emergency!; The Mod Squad; Daniel Boone; Gunsmoke; The Twilight Zone; Thriller; Adam-12; The Doris Day Show; Father Knows Best; The Dukes of Hazzard; Flo; Magnum, P.I.; The Untouchables; Hawkins; Kolchak: The Night Stalker; MacGyver; Mr. Belvedere; The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show; The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Falcon Crest.

He played Dr. Smith's cousin in a 1966 episode of Lost in Space, "Curse of Cousin Smith". He appeared as R.J. Hoferkamp in the 1968 made-for-television movie Something for a Lonely Man. In 1967, he guest-starred as mysterious time traveling villain Mr. Pem in the S4E11 episode "A Time to Die" of the Sci-Fi TV show Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Jones returned as Pem in the 110th and last episode (S4E26) of the series, "No Way Back". He had earlier appeared in the S3E4 episode "Night of Terror" as a different character. Starting in 1974, he guest-starred three times on The Six Million Dollar Man as Dr. Jeffrey/Chester Dolenz. This character was a brilliant scientist who built lifelike robots, but although every plot was foiled, he still managed to escape to fight another day. In 1978, he appeared in the Barney Miller episode "The Prisoner".

In the mid-1980s, Jones appeared at local dining theater productions, including Winnipeg's Stage West.

Personal life and death

Jones was married twice; his first wife Yvonne Bergere died in 1942 with the marriage lasting only 10 months. His second marriage was to Judy Briggs in 1948; they had two children, one of them being actress Jocelyn Jones. They divorced in 1961.

Jones died at UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, aged 86 from complications from injuries suffered in a fall at his home.

Henry Jones at the TCM Movie Database (archived)