Donald Jones (actor)

Donald Jones
Born Donald Towe Jones
(1932-01-24)January 24, 1932
Harlem, New York, U.S.
Died November 5, 2004(2004-11-05) (aged 72)
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Occupation Actor, dancer, singer
Years active 1954-2004
Spouse(s) Adèle Bloemendaal (m. 1963)
Children John Jones

Donald Towe Jones (January 24, 1932 – November 5, 2004) was an American-Dutch actor, singer and dancer; born in Harlem, he went to the Netherlands in his early twenties and became the first Dutch black star.

Biography

Born in Harlem, New York, Jones originally trained to be an advertising designer.[1] He moved to the Netherlands in 1954 with a dance troupe. He was hired by a cabaret company and began a career singing, acting, and dancing. He was hired for the very first Dutch television show, the 1950s television hit Pension Hommeles (written by Annie M.G. Schmidt), in which he played Dinky Henderson, who sings the Cor Lemaire song "Ik zou je het liefste in een doosje willen doen,"[2] a Dutch hit and now one of the standards in the musical comedy genre.[1] This made Jones the first black star in the Netherlands.[2]

Jones played in many Dutch shows, movies (Grijpstra & De Gier, 1979), and theatrical productions, and in television shows such as Mik & Mak and Pipo de Clown.[2] Jones was one of the artists who recorded the song Shalom from Holland (written by Simon Hammelburg and Ron Klipstein) as a token of solidarity to the Israeli people, threatened by missiles from Iraq, during the first Gulf War in 1991.

He married Dutch bisexual actress Adèle Bloemendaal; they were the first well-known mixed couple in the country.[1] Their son, John Jones (actor) (born 1963),[3] went on to become an actor and comedian.[2] Donald Jones died in Amsterdam of a heart attack.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rubing, Lies (8 November 2004). "Donald Jones overleden". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Donald Jones overleden". de Volkskrant. 7 November 2004. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  3. ↑ "Verjaardagen 29 september". Haarlems Dagblad. 29 September 2010. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2011.

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