L. Q. Jones

L. Q. Jones (born Justus Ellis McQueen Jr.; August 19, 1927) is an American actor and director best known for his work in the films of Sam Peckinpah.[1][2]

L. Q. Jones
L. Q. Jones in trailer for Hang 'Em High (1968)
Born	Justus Ellis McQueen Jr. (1927-08-19) August 19, 1927 Beaumont, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, director
Years active	1955–2006
Spouse(s)	Neta S. Lewis ​ ( m. 1950; div. 1973)

Early life

Jones was born in Beaumont in southeastern Texas, the son of Jessie Paralee (née Stephens) and Justus Ellis McQueen Sr., a railroad worker.[3] After serving in the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946, Jones attended Lamar Junior College and then studied law at the University of Texas at Austin from 1950 to 1951.[4] He worked as a stand-up comic, briefly played professional baseball and football, and even tried ranching in Nicaragua before turning to acting after corresponding with his former college roommate, Fess Parker.[4] At the time, in 1954, Parker was already in Hollywood working in films and on television. Jones is a practising Methodist and a registered Republican.[3]

Career

Jones made his film debut in 1955 in Battle Cry, credited under his birth name Justus McQueen.[5] His character's name in that film, however, was "L. Q. Jones", a name he liked and decided to adopt as his stage name for all of his future roles as an actor.[4] In 1955, he was cast as "Smitty Smith" in three episodes of Clint Walker's ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Cheyenne, the first hour-long western on network television.

Jones appeared in numerous films in the 1960s and 1970s. He became a member of Sam Peckinpah's stock company of actors, appearing in his Klondike series (1960–1961), Ride the High Country (1962), Major Dundee (1965), The Wild Bunch (1969), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), and Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid (1973).

Jones was frequently cast alongside his close friend Strother Martin, most memorably as the posse member and bounty hunter "T. C." in The Wild Bunch. Jones also appeared as recurring characters on such western series as Cheyenne (1955), Gunsmoke (1955), Laramie, Two Faces West (1960–1961), and as ranch hand Andy Belden in The Virginian (1962). That same year (1962) Jones appeared as Ollie Earnshaw, a rich rancher looking for a bride on Lawman in the episode titled "The Bride."

He was cast in the military drama series Men of Annapolis, on the CBS western Johnny Ringo, and on the NBC western Jefferson Drum. He made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of con artist and murder victim Charles B. Barnaby in "The Case of the Lonely Heiress" (1958) and as Edward Lewis in "The Case of the Badgered Brother" (1963). He appeared in Hawaii Five-O, season 1, episode 15, in 1968. He also appeared in an episode of The A-Team titled "Cowboy George" and two episodes of The Fall Guy as Sheriff Dwight Leclerc. In 1971 Jones appeared as Belden in "The Men From Shiloh" (rebranded name of The Virginian in the episode titled "The Town Killer."

Other films include Men in War (1957), The Naked and the Dead (1958), Flaming Star (1960), Cimarron (1960), Hell Is for Heroes (1962), Hang 'Em High (1968), Stay Away, Joe (1968), The Brotherhood of Satan (1971), which he co-produced and wrote, Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975) Lone Wolf McQuade (1983), Casino (1995), The Edge (1997), The Mask of Zorro (1998), and A Prairie Home Companion (2006).

Jones directed, produced, and wrote the screenplay for A Boy and His Dog.[6]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1955	Battle Cry	Pvt. L. Q. Jones	Credited as Justus McQueen
1955	An Annapolis Story	Watson
1955	Target Zero	Pvt. Felix O'Hara
1956	Santiago	Digger
1956	Toward the Unknown	2nd Lt. Sweeney
1956	Between Heaven and Hell	Pvt. Kenny Co. G
1956	Love Me Tender	Pardee Fleming	Uncredited
1957	Men in War	Sgt. Davis
1957	Operation Mad Ball	Ozark
1957	Gunsight Ridge	Lazy Heart Ranch Hand
1958	The Young Lions	Pvt. Donnelly	Uncredited
1958	Buchanan Rides Alone	Pecos Hill
1958	The Naked and the Dead	Woodrow "Woody" Wilson
1958	Torpedo Run	Hash Benson
1959	Warlock	Fen Jiggs	Uncredited
1959	Battle of the Coral Sea	Yeoman Halliday
1959	Hound-Dog Man	Dave Wilson
1960	Ten Who Dared	Billy "Missouri" Hawkins
1960	Flaming Star	Tom Howard
1960	Cimarron	Millis
1962	Ride the High Country	Sylvus Hammond
1962	Hell Is for Heroes	Supply Sgt. Frazer
1963	Showdown	Foray
1964	Iron Angel	Buttons
1964	The Devil's Bedroom		Director (credited as Justus McQueen)
1964	Apache Rifles	Mike Greer
1965	Major Dundee	Arthur Hadley
1966	Nevada Smith	Cowboy	Uncredited
1968	Stay Away, Joe	Bronc Hoverty
1968	The Counterfeit Killer	Hotel Clerk Hanging Party
1968	Hang 'Em High	Loomis
1969	The Witchmaker		Uncredited
1969	The Wild Bunch	T. C.
1970	The Ballad of Cable Hogue	Taggart
1970	The McMasters	Russel
1971	The Hunting Party	Hog Warren
1971	The Brotherhood of Satan	Sheriff
1972	43: The Richard Petty Story	Ed Koler
1972	The Bravos	Ben Lawler
1973	Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid	Black Harris
1975	A Boy and His Dog	Actor in Porno Film	Director
1975	White Line Fever	Buck
1975	Winterhawk	Gates
1976	Mother, Jugs & Speed	Sheriff Davey
1979	Fast Charlie... the Moonbeam Rider	Floyd
1982	The Beast Within	Sheriff Bill Pool
1982	Melanie	Buford	Uncredited
1982	Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann	Ben Potter
1983	Sacred Ground	Tolbert Coleman
1983	Lone Wolf McQuade	Dakota
1988	Bulletproof	Sgt. O'Rourke
1989	River of Death	Hiller
1990	The Legend of Grizzly Adams	Reno
1994	Lightning Jack	Sheriff Tom
1995	The Friends of Harry	Senator
1995	Casino	Commissioner Pat Webb
1996	Tornado!	Ephram Thorne
1997	The Edge	Styles
1998	The Patriot	Frank
1998	The Mask of Zorro	Three-Fingered Jack
2001	Route 666	Sheriff Bob Conaway
2006	A Prairie Home Companion	Chuck Akers

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1955	Cheyenne	Smitty	3 episodes
1956	Annie Oakley	Cal Upton and Ned Blane	2 episodes
1957	The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial	Jedediah "Jed" Boone	Episode: "Dog vs. Biddeford"
1957	The Silent Service	Jack Potter	Episode: "The Final War Patrol"
1958	Flight	(character unnamed)	Episode: "Window in the Sky"
1958	Men of Annapolis	Clint Parker	Episode: "Mister Fireball"
1958	Jefferson Drum	Burdette	Episode: "The Keeney Gang"
1958	Perry Mason	Charles Barnaby	"The Case of the Lonely Heiress"
1958–62	Lassie	Attorney Blake	3 episodes
1959	Black Saddle	Jack Shepherd	Episode: "Client: Banks"
1959	Tightrope	Earl Bell	Episode: "The Frame"
1959	Wichita Town	Walter	Episode: "Drifting"
1959	Laramie	John MacLean	Episode: "Dark Verdict"
1959	Wagon Train	Squirrel Charvanaugh	Episode: "The Old Man Charvanaugh Story"
1959–61	Tales of Wells Fargo	Striker	2 episodes
1960	Johnny Ringo	Billy Boy Jethro	Episode: "Four Came Quietly"
1960	Lock Up	Tex	Episode: "Death and Taxes"
1960	The Gambler, the Nun and the Radio	Rodeo Rider
1960	Buick-Electra Playhouse	Rodeo Rider	Episode: "The Gambler, the Nun and the Radio"
1960	Klondike	Joe Teel	3 episodes
1960	The Rebel	Otis Rumpf	2 episodes
1960	Two Faces West	(character unnamed)	Episode: "The Last Man"
1960	Laramie	Actor	Episode: "The Dark Trail"
1961	The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor	Betty Merriwether	Episode: "Kinfolk"
1961	The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp	Tex	Episode: "Casey and the Clowns"
1961	The Americans	Yonts	Episode: "The Coward"
1961	Two Faces West	(character unnamed)	Episode: "The Noose"
1961	Laramie	Homer	Episode: "Cactus Lady"
1961	Laramie	Truk	Episode: "Siege at Jubilee"
1961	Wagon Train	Lenny	Episode: "The Christopher Hale Story"
1962	Lawman	Ollie Earnshaw	Episode: "The Bride"
1962	The Rifleman	Charley Breen	Episode: "Day of Reckoning"
1962	The Wide Country	Whicker	Episode: "Straitjacket for an Indian"
1962	Ben Casey	Stan Galloway	Episode: "The Fireman Who Raised Rabbits"
1962	Have Gun - Will Travel	Little Fontana	Episode: "Lazarus"
1962	Have Gun – Will Travel	Bill Renn – Drifting Cowboy	Episode: "The Waiting Room"
1962	Laramie	Johnny Duncan	Episode: "The Replacement"
1962	Laramie	Neeley	Episode: "Among the Missing"
1962	Laramie	Frank Keefer	Episode: "Shadow of the Past"
1963	Have Gun – Will Travel	Hector Mackenby	Episode: "Debutante"
1963	Route 66	Babe	Episode: "Shall Forfeit His Dog and Ten Shillings to the King"
1963	Laramie	Sergeant	Episode: "The Stranger"
1963	Empire	L. Q.	Episode: "The Convention"
1963	Perry Mason	Lewis	Episode: "The Case of the Badgered Brother"
1963	Wagon Train	Esdras	Episode: "Charlie Wooster—Outlaw"
1963	Wagon Train	Ike Truman	Episode: "The Robert Harrison Clarke Story"
1963	Rawhide	George Cornelius	Episode: "Incident at El Crucero"
1963–71	The Virginian	Andy Belden	25 episodes
1964	Wagon Train	Pvt. James Jones	Episode: "The Duncan McIvor Story"
1964	Rawhide	Cpl. Wayne	Episode: "Incident at Gila Flats"
1964	Rawhide	Luke	Episode: "The Race"
1965	Rawhide	Pee Jay Peters	2 episodes
1965	My Favorite Martian	Frank James	Episode: "The Time Machine Is Waking Up That Old Gang of Mine"
1966	A Man Called Shenandoah	Ben Lloyd	Episode: "Rope's End"
1966	Pistols 'n' Petticoats	1st Gunman	Episode: "Sir Richard of Wretched"
1966	ABC Stage 67	Deputy	Episode: "Noon Wine"
1966	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	Hotel Clerk	Episode: "The Faceless Man"
1966	The Big Valley	Cort	Episode: "By Force and Violence"
1967	The Big Valley	Curtis	Episode: "Court Martial"
1967	The Big Valley	Earl Vaughan	Episode: "Showdown in Limbo"
1967	The Big Valley	Hutch	Episode: "Ambush"
1967	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	Ernie Packer	Episode: "The Lady is My Wife"
1967	The F.B.I.	Wesley Davis	Episode: "The Gold Card"
1967	Cimarron Strip	Barnes	Episode: "The Battleground"
1967	Cimarron Strip	Lummy	Episode: "The Search"
1967	Hondo	Allie	Episode: "Hondo and the Death Drive"
1968	The Big Valley	Gus Vandiver	Episode: "Fall of a Hero"
1969	Gunsmoke	Kittridge	Episode: "The Good Samaritans"
1969	Hawaii Five-O	Colonel Lew Cardell	Episode: "King of the Hill"
1969	Lancer	Slate Meek	Episode: "Blind Man's Bluff"
1970	Gunsmoke	Sumner Pendleton	Episode: "The Gun"
1970	Gunsmoke	Nix	Episode: "Albert"
1971	Alias Smith and Jones	Clint Weaver	Episode: "Stagecoach Seven"
1971	The F.B.I.	Al Tanner	Episode: "Dynasty of Hate"
1971	Cannon	Phil Mackey	Episode: "Fool's Gold"
1971	Cade's County	Grover Curtis	Episode: "Delegate at Large"
1972	Gunsmoke	Gecko Ridley	Episode: "Tara"
1972	Alias Smith and Jones	Drunk	Episode: "The Men That Corrupted Hadleyburg"
1972	The Delphi Bureau	Cole	Episode: "The Man Upstairs-The Man Downstairs Project"
1972	The Bold Ones: The New Doctors	Dr. Dietrich	Episode: "A Purge of Madness"
1972	Alias Smith and Jones	Peterson	Episode: "McGuffin"
1973	Ironside	Harry Ashton	Episode: "The Caller"
1973	Kung Fu	Sgt. Straight	Episode: "An Eye for an Eye"
1973	Assignment Vienna	Actor	Episode: "A Deadly Shade of Green"
1973	Cannon	Sheriff Virgil Spoontz	Episode: "Perfect Alibi"
1974	The Magician	Johnson	2 episodes
1974	Ironside	Cardiff	Episode: "Riddle at 24,000"
1975	Kung Fu	Major Clarke Bealson	Episode: "The Last Raid"
1975	Matt Helm	Actor	Episode: "Deadly Breed"
1976	Movin' On	Flakey Edwards	Episode: "The Big Switch"
1976	Charlie's Angels	Sgt. Billings	Episode: "Bullseye"
1977	McCloud	Kenny Hingle	Episode: "The Moscow Connection"
1978	CHiPs	Hoskins	Episode: "Rustling"
1978	Charlie's Angels	Dan Jarvis	Episode: "Angels in the Backfield"
1978	Columbo	Gun Dealer	Episode: "The Conspirators"
1978	The Eddie Capra Mysteries	Dr. Amos	Episode: "Dying Declaration"
1979	How the West Was Won	Batlin	Episode: "Luke"
1979	The Runaways	Matthew Turner	Episode: "They'll Never Forgive Me"
1979	The Incredible Hulk	Jake White	Episode: "Jake"
1979	The Dukes of Hazzard	Warren	Episode: "Witness for the Persecution"
1979	Charlie's Angels	Burdette	Episode: "Angel Hunt"
1980	Vega$	Everett Mason	Episode: "The Lido Girls"
1980	Charlie's Angels	Sam Mason	Episode: "An Angel's Trail"
1980	The Incredible Hulk	Director	Episode: "On the Line"
1980	Enos	Garrett	Episode: "Blu Flu"
1981	Walking Tall	John Whitter	Episode: "Hitman"
1981	Riker	Massey	Episode: "Honkytonk"
1982	The Dukes of Hazzard	Morton	Episode: "The Sound of Music – Hazzard Style"
1982	The Fall Guy	Sheriff Dwight Le Clerc	2 episodes
1983	Voyagers!	Ground Control #1	Episode: "All Fall Down"
1983–84	The Yellow Rose	Sheriff Lew Wallace	10 episodes
1984	Matt Houston	Sheriff Loftus	Episode: "The Monster"
1986	The A-Team	Chuck Danford	Episode: "Cowboy George"
1991	The New Adam-12	Mr. Weaver	Episode: "Crack House"
1994	Walker, Texas Ranger	Billy Selkirk	Episode: "Deadly Reunion"
1994–96	Renegade	Nathan Wayne	5 episodes
1999	The Jack Bull	Henry Ballard	HBO film
2004	Dr. Vegas	Hondo	Episode: "All In"

References

1. "L. Q. Jones". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 27, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2008.
2. Ebert, Roger (March 31, 1976). "L. Q. Jones: The Real Star is the Dog". rogerebert.com. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
3. "L. Q. Jones Biography (1927–)". filmreference.com. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
4. Magers, Boyd. "Characters and Heavies: L. Q. Jones". westernclippings.com. Albuquerque, New Mexico. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
5. Thomas, Nick (December 12, 2019). "Turning 90, L.Q. Jones reflects on Hollywood journey". thespectrum.com. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
6. Niedan, Christian (December 22, 2011). "L.Q. Jones on A Boy and his Dog, Westerns & more". camerainthesun.com. Retrieved August 12, 2018.

Further reading

• Humphreys, Justin (2006). "L. Q. Jones". Names You Never Remember, With Faces You Never Forget : Interviews with the Movies' Character Actors (softcover) (First ed.). Albany, GA: BearManor Media. pp. 144–171. ISBN 978-1-62933-094-5.

External links

• L.Q. Jones on IMDb
• L. Q. Jones at Aveleyman.com
• “Turning 90, L.Q. Jones reflects on Hollywood journey”, The Spectrum, August 15, 2017. (Retrieved 2018-07-05.)