“Forgotten Hollywood”- Disney Stalwart Has Passed Away…

Posted on September 2, 2015 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…dean jones

   Dean Jones was best known for his light-hearted leading roles in several Walt Disney movies between 1965 and 1977, most notably The Love Bug. Jones also originated the role of Bobby in Stephen Sondheim’s Company.               DEAN JONES —->

   After appearing in minor film and television roles, Jones made his Broadway debut (along with Jane Fonda) in the 1960 play There Was a Little Girl. In 1960 he also played Dave Manning in the stage comedy Under the Yum-Yum Tree, a role which he reprised in the 1963 movie version starring Jack Lemmon.

   Jones started his film career by signing a contract at MGM, beginning with a small role as a soldier in Somebody Up There Likes Me, and he played a disc jockey in the 1957 Elvis Presley film Jailhouse Rock. Jones subsequently starred in the NBC television sitcom Ensign O’Toole from 1962–1963. It also happened to be the lead-in program to Walt Disney’s The Wonderful World of Color. The producer ordered prints of Jones’ cinema catalog to analyze.

   Walt signed Jones on for a string of Disney films in the 1960s and 1970s, beginning with That Darn Cat! (actress Hayley Mills’ last film at Disney). His performance was so well-received that Disney assigned him starring roles in The Ugly Dachshund, Blackbeard’s Ghost, The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit, The Million Dollar DuckThe Shaggy D.A., and Snowball Express. What followed was The Love Bug series of flicks. He later had a small part in Clear and Present Danger.

   Jones became a devout born-again Christian in 1973. He founded the Christian Rescue Committee (CRC) in 1998, an organization that helps provide a way of escape to Jews, Christians, and others persecuted for their faith. The actor was inducted into the Disney Legends Hall of Fame in 1995.

   The very likeable Dean Jones was 84.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015 at 4:20 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.


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