Tommy Lee Jones' Main TV Roles Show Character(s) The Academy Awards Tommy Lee J… Lonesome Dove Woodrow F. …

Main Movie Roles 2012 - Men in Black III 2010 - The Company Men 2009 - In the Electric Mist 2008 - Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 2007 - No Country for Old Men 2007 - In the Valley of Elah 2006 - A Prairie Home Companion 2005 - The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada 2003 - The Hunted 2002 - Men In Black II 2000 - Rules of Engagement 2000 - Space Cowboys 1999 - Double Jeopardy 1998 - Small Soldiers 1998 - U.S. Marshals 1997 - Volcano 1997 - Men in Black 1995 - Batman Forever 1994 - The Client 1994 - Blown Away 1994 - Natural Born Killers 1994 - Cobb 1993 - Heaven & Earth 1993 - House of Cards 1993 - The Fugitive 1992 - Under Siege 1991 - JFK 1990 - Fire Birds 1989 - The Package 1988 - Stormy Monday 1986 - Black Moon Rising 1984 - The River Rat 1983 - Nate and Hayes 1980 - Coal Miner's Daughter 1978 - Eyes of Laura Mars 1977 - Rolling Thunder 1976 - Jackson County Jail 1970 - Love Story

BIOGRAPHY:

Born in San Saba, Texas, the son of Clyde C. and Lucille Marie (Scott) Jones, Tommy Lee Jones worked in underwater construction and on an oil rig. He attended St. Mark's School of Texas, a prestigious prep school for boys in Dallas, on a scholarship, and went to Harvard on another scholarship.He roomed with future Vice President Al Gore (I) and played offensive guard in the famous 29-29 Harvard-Yale football game of '68 known as "The Tie." He received a B.A. in English literature and graduated cum laude from Harvard in 1969.

Following college, he moved to New York and began his theatrical career on Broadway in "A Patriot for Me" (1969). In 1970, he made his film debut in Love Story (1970). While living in New York, he continued to appear in various plays, both on- and off-Broadway: "Fortune and Men's Eyes" (1969); "Four on a Garden" (1971); "Blue Boys" (1972); "Ulysses in Nighttown" (1974). During this time, he also appeared on a daytime soap opera, "One Life to Live" (1968) as Dr. Mark Toland from 1971-75. He moved with wife Kate Lardner (I), granddaughter of short-story writer/columnist Ring Lardner, and her two children from a previous marriage, to Los Angeles.

There he began to get some roles on television: "Charlie's Angels" (1976) (pilot episode); Smash-Up on Interstate 5 (1976) (TV); and The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977) (TV). While working on the movie Back Roads (1981), he met and fell in love with Kimberlea Cloughley, whom he later married. More roles in television--both on network and cable--stage and film garnered him a reputation as a strong, explosive, thoughtful actor who could handle supporting as well as leading roles. He made his directorial debut in The Good Old Boys (1995) (TV) on TNT. In addition to directing and starring in the film, he co-wrote the teleplay (with J.T. Allen). The film, based on Elmer Kelton's novel, is set in west Texas where Jones has strong family ties. Consequently, this story of a cowboy facing the end of an era has special meaning for him.


TRIVIA:

• Had a younger brother, born 3 years after the actor, who died in infancy.
• Became friends with Al Gore when they studied at Harvard and was asked to host the Noble Peace Prize concert for Al Gore.
• Ten days after graduating from Harvard, he landed his first role in the Broadway production of "A Patriot for Me" (with 'Maximilian Schell' (qv)), which closed after 49 performances. He got his agent after giving a letter of introduction to actress 'Jane Alexander (I)' (qv). His story of how he found an agent and a Broadway job so quickly was written about in an issue of "Ripley's Believe It or Not".
• Plays polo and raises polo ponies. His team won the U.S. Polo Association's Western Challenge Cup in 1993. Invites the Harvard's best polo players to his ranch to practice each fall.
• Speaks Spanish fluently.
• Never took an acting class.
• At the 2000 Democratic National Convention, he presented the nominating speech for Al Gore as the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States.
• Father's name was Clyde C. Jones -- he did not have a middle name, just an initial.