Mickey Jones
Mickey Jones | |
---|---|
Jones at a charity event in San Diego, California in 2006. | |
Born |
Houston, Texas, U.S. | June 10, 1941
Died | February 7, 2018 76) | (aged
Occupation | Actor, musician |
Years active | 1959–2015 |
Spouse(s) |
Sandra Joel Davis (m. ?—1976; divorced) Phyllis Jean Starr (m. 1980; his death 2018) |
Children | 2 |
Mickey Jones (June 10, 1941 — February 7, 2018) was an American musician and actor. His career as a drummer had him backing up acts such as Trini Lopez, Johnny Rivers, and Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, as well as Bob Dylan on his 1966 world tour. Jones had 17 gold records from his musical career of over two decades.[1]
After the break-up of The First Edition in 1976, Jones concentrated on his career as a character actor, where he made many appearances on film and television.[2]
Early life and career
Mickey Jones was born on June 10, 1941, in Houston, Texas, to Fred Edward Jones, a U.S. Navy officer, and Frances Marie (née Vieregge) Jones, a homemaker. His sister, Cheryl Marie, died in 2006.
Jones attended Sunset High School in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas. It was during this time that he obtained and learned to play his first set of drums. After sitting in with several local bands, Jones and four schoolmates formed their own band, called The Catalinas. Although the band saw some local success, he was replaced by a new drummer, as Jones was only sixteen at the time, and the band wanted someone who was of legal age.
Drumming career
After working as a freelance drummer with various acts, Jones was introduced to Trini Lopez. When Lopez's drummer became ill, he was asked to take his place and eventually became the band's new permanent drummer.
In 1959, Jones left Lopez's band to pursue a degree in business administration at North Texas State College (now University of North Texas). After college, he took a job at Rohr Aircraft in San Diego. Seeing that the life of a factory worker was not for him, Jones moved to Los Angeles to get back into the entertainment industry. He landed a job as a page at the NBC studios, while re-establishing his friendship with Lopez, who had moved to Los Angeles as well. Jones would again become Lopez's drummer, while Lopez would see much success with hits such as "If I Had A Hammer", "La Bamba" and "America".
In 1964, Jones left Lopez's band to join Johnny Rivers ("Secret Agent Man", "Seventh Son" and "Mountain of Love") as his drummer. During this time, he traveled with Rivers' band, along with singer Ann-Margret, to entertain the troops in Vietnam.
In 1966, Jones was made an offer by Bob Dylan to join him as his drummer. Replacing Levon Helm, who had quit, Jones would accompany Dylan with the other members of what would become The Band, on his world tour of Australia and Europe. It was during this tour while performing at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England, on May 17, 1966, that the audience jeered Dylan for playing the electric guitar during the latter half of the show. Jones' career with Dylan would be cut short when Dylan had to temporarily stop performing in order to recover from a motorcycle accident.
At this time, Jones had decided to pursue a career in acting. He had landed jobs as an extra, when in 1967 he was approached to be the drummer for a new group called The First Edition, with lead singer Kenny Rogers.
With hits such as "Something's Burning", "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" and "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)", The First Edition would see much success over the next ten years, even having their own television variety show, Rollin' on the River (later shortened to Rollin'), in the early 1970s.
Acting career
After the breakup of The First Edition in 1976, Jones pursued a full-time career in acting. As a character actor, he would make many appearances on television and film, such as being part of the cast of Flo, the short-lived spin-off to the CBS sitcom Alice, his role as a crooked mechanic/sheriff in National Lampoon's Vacation and his role as Chris Farber, the buddy of Ham Tyler (Michael Ironside) in the miniseries and weekly television series, V.
Later, Jones would have a cameo in Ironside's film Total Recall (1990). Jones had no scenes with Ironside - he played a Martian miner on a train with Doug Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger).
In 1992 he played a small but memorable role in the television show Northern Exposure episode "Heroes" as Chris Steven's (John Corbett) deceased mentor, Tooley O'Toole, who is delivered to Chris in a wooden box. The Tooley character has a cult following on Facebook through the page 'Tooley Lives'.
He appeared as the subway riding biker in a Breath Savers commercial and had a recurring role as Pete Bilker on the ABC sitcom Home Improvement. In 1996, he appeared in Sling Blade as the drummer in the band (a prominent speaking part in the band scenes), and Tin Cup, with fellow character actor Dennis Burkley. He and Burkley were commonly mistaken for each other.
In 2005, he contributed to the documentary, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan. From 2011 to 2014, he had a recurring role on the television show Justified, as Rodney "Hot Rod" Dunham, a marijuana distributor who ran a small band of criminals.
Author
In 2009, Jones published his autobiography That Would Be Me, the title based on the catchphrase often used by his character on Home Improvement.[3]
Death
Jones died following a lengthy, unspecified illness on February 7, 2018, aged 76.[4] He is survived by his wife, Phyllis Jean Starr, and their two children, and three step children.[5]
Partial filmography
Films
- Wild in the Streets (1968)
- Stand By Your Man (1981)
- Wrong Is Right (1982)
- China Lake (1983)
- National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
- Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story (1983)
- Starman (1984)
- Savage Dawn (1985)
- Hunter's Blood (1986)
- Welcome to 18 (1986)
- Extreme Prejudice (1987)
- Nadine (1987)
- Talking Walls (1987)
- The Couch Trip (1988)
- Homer & Eddie (1989)
- Dead Bang (1989)
- Total Recall (1990)
- Dutch (1991)
- Drop Zone (1994)
- Tin Cup (1996)
- Sling Blade (1996)
- The Last Best Sunday (1999)
- Vice (2000)
- The Last Real Cowboys (2000)
- The View from the Swing (2000)
- Shattered Lies (2002)
- The Fighting Temptations (2003)
- Bob Dylan - World Tour 1966: The Home Movies (2004)
- Iowa (2005)
- No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005)
- Penny Dreadful (2006)
- Country Remedy (2006)
- Simple Things (2007)
- Corners (2007)
- High Desert (2007)
- Necrosis (2009)
- Downstream (2010)
- Thriftstore Cowboy (2012)
- Rebel On The Highway (2018)
Television
- Rollin' on the River (1971) - First Edition Drummer
- The Dream Makers (1975, TV Movie) - Jesse
- The Rockford Files (1977) - Chubby Pool Player
- The Incredible Hulk (1978-1981) - George / Doc / Ricky
- The Dukes of Hazzard (1979) - B.B. Davenport
- CHiPs (1980) Satin's Angels (Big Daddy)
- Flo (1980–1981) - Chester
- M*A*S*H (1981) - M.P. #2
- Hear No Evil - (1982 made-for-TV-movie) Blackman
- V: The Series (1984–1985) - Chris Farber
- V: The Final Battle (1984) - Chris Farber
- Misfits of Science (1985) - Arnold Biefneiter
- In The Heat of the Night "Country Mouse, City Mouse" (as Willie Baylor) (1989) - Willie Baylor
- 21 Jump Street (1989) - Bobo
- Baywatch (1990–1992) - Lonny / Red
- Home Improvement (1991–1999) - Pete Bilker
- Get a Life (1991) - Ray
- Northern Exposure "Heroes" (as Chris' deceased mentor, Tooley) (1992-1994) - Toolie / Tooley
- Married... with Children (1996) - Parley Wayne Rockefeller
- Boy Meets World (1996-1999) - Milkshake Guy / Ezekial
- Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction (1997)
- Lizzie McGuire (2002) - Sonny Reid
- Entourage (2007) - Mickey Jones
- Justified (2011–2014) - Rodney 'Hot Rod' Dunham
- Workaholics (2012) - Arthur
- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2013) - Gunther
- Growing Up Fisher (2014) - Ronnie
- Newsreaders (2015) - Kelson Habson
Music videos
- "Sunset Blvd" (2005)
References
- ↑ Elber, Lynn. "'Justified,' 'Home Improvement' actor Mickey Jones dies". ABC News. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
- ↑ Barsanti, Sam. "R.I.P. character actor Mickey Jones". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
- ↑ Brockington, Ariana (February 7, 2018). "Mickey Jones, 'Justified' and 'Home Improvement' Actor, Dies at 76". Variety. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
- ↑ Parker, Ryan. "Veteran Character Actor Mickey Jones Dies at 76". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
- ↑ Canfield, David. "Justified actor Mickey Jones dies at 76". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
External links
- Official website
- Mickey Jones on IMDb
- Mickey Jones discography at Discogs
- Mickey Jones at AllMusic