Christopher Jones

Birthday: 18 August 1941, Jackson, Tennessee, USA

Birth Name: William Franklin Jones

Height: 173 cm

Christopher Jones was a brief cult star of the late 60s counterculture era and a would-be successor to James Dean had he wanted it. Born Billy Frank Jones amid rather impoverished surroundings to a grocery clerk in Jackson, Tennessee in 1941, his artist mother had to be institutionalized when Chris was 4. She died in a mental facility in 1960 and this was always to haunt him. Shifted back and forth between homes and orphanages and placed in Boys Town at one point to straighten out his life, Chris joined the service as a young adult but went AWOL two days later. After serving out his time on Governor's Island for this infraction, he moved to New York and studied painting, meeting a motley crew of actors and artists. Friends were startled by his uncanny resemblance to James Dean - his brooding good looks and troubled nature were absolutely eerie. Encouraged to try out for the Actor's Studio, he was accepted and eventually won a role on Broadway in "The Night of the Iguana" in 1961. He ended up marrying acting coach Lee Strasberg's daughter, Susan Strasberg, in 1965 but his erratic behavior sent her packing within three years. Chris' undeniable charisma led him to Hollywood for a role in Chubasco (1967) with his wife Susan, and then brief cult stardom in Wild in the Streets (1968) as a rock star who becomes president. This popular satire, in turn, led to international projects such as The Looking Glass War (1970) and Ryan's Daughter (1970). But the trappings of success got to him. Numerous entanglements with the Hollywood "in crowd" took its toll, including those with Pamela Courson (Jim Morrison's girlfriend at the time), the ill-fated Sharon Tate, one-time co-star Pia Degermark and Olivia Hussey (who rushed into a marriage with Dean Paul Martin shortly after Chris turned his back on marriage). The workload left him emotionally spent and Tate's brutal murder left him devastated. He split the scene but ended up a victim of Sunset Strip drug culture. Little was heard of Chris until decades later, when Quentin Tarantino offered him a part in Pulp Fiction (1994). The now reclusive and eccentric Jones refused the role, but this was not the case with a lower-profile role in Mad Dog Time (1996) a couple of years later. This proved to be only a minor comeback or not has yet to be determined. After a 26 year retirement from his acting career, that Sharon Tates extremely brutal murder and bloody death, on Saturday, August 9th, 1969, Bob did make one final acting appearance, in Mad Dog Time (1996). Hide

[in 1996, on why he left the film industry] I'd had a nervous breakdown over Sharon Tate's death. I Show more [in 1996, on why he left the film industry] I'd had a nervous breakdown over Sharon Tate's death. I had done three pictures in a row in Europe, and had so many love affairs I was exhausted. I was tired, man. Hide

[1966 magazine interview] I adored movies. Everything was so clean and uncomplicated in the movies. Show more [1966 magazine interview] I adored movies. Everything was so clean and uncomplicated in the movies. All those important people in their big houses. That was my ideal. I wanted to be a movie star. The movies kept me going for a long time. They kept me going until I learned in New York three years ago that there is no ideal, that there are very few people who aren't hypocrites. Hide

[on visiting James Dean's family while AWOL from the army] The Winslows were very nice people and ma Show more [on visiting James Dean's family while AWOL from the army] The Winslows were very nice people and made me feel right at home. Marcus [Dean's cousin] was not home, I suppose he may have been in school. They took me up to Jimmy's room where his Levis were lying on the bed waiting for him to jump into them and there were several pairs of boots on the floor just where he had left them. His uncle showed me his motorcycle and took me to the barn to see Jimmy's handprint they had put in the cement when he was nine years old. He also told me Jimmy fell while he was playing and his father made him a plate which he wore for the rest of his life. Hide

But you know, I loved David [David Lean], and he liked me and we got along great most of the time. J Show more But you know, I loved David [David Lean], and he liked me and we got along great most of the time. Just a few times it was head-to-head. But I totally respected him. A brilliant director. The best there was. Hide

I am happy. Everyone has regrets, but I don't have many that I want to talk about. I did exactly as Show more I am happy. Everyone has regrets, but I don't have many that I want to talk about. I did exactly as I pleased -- within my world. [Interview with Jim Mueller, 2000] Hide

I never took the resemblance and comparisons to Dean [James Dean] too seriously, I felt that I had t Show more I never took the resemblance and comparisons to Dean [James Dean] too seriously, I felt that I had talent in my own right. Hide

Christopher Jones's FILMOGRAPHY

as Actor (8)

Wild in the Streets

Mad Dog Time

The Looking Glass War

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - Season 1

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - Season 2

Ryan's Daughter

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - Season 4

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - Season 3

Christopher Jones'S roles

Randolph Doryan