Robert Earl Jones
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| Robert Earl Jones | |
 photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1938. |
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| Birth name | Robert Earl Henry Jones |
| Born | February 3, 1910 Mississippi, USA |
| Died | September 7, 2006 Englewood, New Jersey, United States |
| Other name(s) | Earl Jones |
| Years active | 1955-1993 |
| Spouse(s) | Ruth Williams Ruth Connolly |
| Notable roles | Luther Coleman in The Sting |
| Academy Awards | |
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Robert Earl Jones (February 3, 1910 - September 7, 2006) was an American actor and the father of actor James Earl Jones. While born in Mississippi, the actual location of Jones' birth is unclear as some sources indicate Senatobia,[1] while others suggest nearby Coldwater.[2]
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[edit] Roots in the Harlem Renaissance
Jones was a grade-school dropout and a sharecropper before making his way, via Chicago, to New York City and a career on stage and in film. Altogether Jones appeared in more that twenty films, including The Cotton Club (1984) and The Sting (1973). Jones was a living link with the Harlem renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, having worked with Langston Hughes early in his career. After moving to New York in the 1930's (after a short career as a prize fighter in Chicago where champion Joe Louis used him as a sparring partner), Jones worked with young people on the Works Progress Administration, the largest New Deal agency, through which he met Langston Hughes, who cast him in his 1938 play, Don't You Want to Be Free?
Jones told the New York Times in 1974:
"It was kind of natural. Langston Hughes' aunt, Toy Harper, taught me how to read my first poem: 'I am a Negro black as the night is black/ Black like the depth of my Africa' and several other poems. It was poetic drama, put together by several of his poems. We linked them together by a narrative, and I was that narrator.
[edit] Stage and screen career
He was a boxer and ran in marathons in addition to his acting. The Amsterdam News reported that Jones ran several marathons including the 1996 New York City Marathon at the age of 86.
His most noted role was in the 1973 film The Sting, in which he played an older con man alongside Robert Redford. He also appeared in the films Witness, Trading Places, and The Cotton Club. Jones acted mostly in crime movies and dramas and his career highlights were Cold River and One Potato, Two Potato. His career started in 1939 with a small role in Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). Although he never achieved the fame enjoyed by his son, James, Jones found a comfortable niche in Hollywood with steady work from the 1960s through the early 1990s.
Toward the end of his life, Jones was noted for his stage portrayal of Creon in a 1988 musical version of the Oedipus legend, The Gospel at Colonus. He also made appearances in the long-running TV shows Lou Grant and Kojak. His last film was in the 1992 drama Rain Without Thunder. One of his last stage roles was, a 1991 adaptation by another figure from the Harlem renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston of Mule Bone.
Though blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s, he was ultimately honoured with a lifetime achievement award by the U.S. National Black Theatre Festival.
[edit] Personal Life
Jones died at his home in 2006, in Englewood, New Jersey of natural causes
- Ronald Earl Jones, father
- Rebecca Sunden-Jones, mother
- Brian Jones, brother
- Mary Jones, sister
- John Earl Jones, brother
- Ruth Connoly, wife
- James Earl Jones, son
- Matthew Earl Jones, son
- Flynn Earl Jones, grandson
[edit] Stage
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[edit] Filmography
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[edit] Television
[edit] references
- ^ Senatobia, Mississippi. guardian (December 2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-26.
- ^ Coldwater, Mississippi. Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved on 2007-01-26.
[edit] External links
- Robert Earl Jones at the Internet Broadway Database
- Robert Earl Jones at the Internet Movie Database
- Robert Earl Jones at TV.com
- Robert Earl Jones at Yahoo! Movies
