Tall, sandy haired, mustachioed actor from Texas born Justus McQueen, who adopted the name of the character he portrayed in his first film, Le cri de la victoire (1955). Jones, with his craggy, gaunt looks, first appeared in minor character roles in plenty of WWII films including Le bal des maudits (1958), Les nus et les morts (1958), L'enfer est pour les héros (1962) and La bataille de la mer de corail (1959). However, 1962 saw him team up with maverick director Sam Peckinpah for the first of Jones' five appearances in his films. Coups de feu dans la Sierra (1962) saw Jones play one of the lowlife Hammond brothers. Next he appeared alongside Charlton Heston in Major Dundee (1965), then Peckinpah cast him, along with his real-life friend Strother Martin, as one of the scummy, murderous bounty hunters in La horde sauvage (1969). Such was the chemistry between Jones and Martin that Peckinpah teamed them again the following year in Un nommé Cable Hogue (1970), and Jones' final appearance in a Peckinpah film was in another western, Pat Garrett et Billy le Kid (1973). Two years later Jones directed the cult post-apocalyptic film Apocalypse 2024 (1975) starring a young Don Johnson. He has continued to work in Hollywood, and as the lines on his craggy face have deepened, he turns up more frequently as crusty old westerners, especially in multiple TV guest spots. He turned in an interesting performance as a seemingly good ol' boy Nevada cowboy who was actually a powerful behind-the-scenes player in state politics who leaned on Robert De Niro's Las Vegas mob gambler in Martin Scorsese's violent and powerful Casino (1995).
