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Who Is Tommy Lee Jones?
Tommy Lee Jones is an accomplished actor known for his memorable roles in films such as The Fugitive, Men in Black, No Country for Old Men, and Lincoln (2012). He rose to prominence after his standout performance in The Fugitive (1993), which propelled him to household-name status. With a career spanning several decades, Jones has become a staple in both action films and dramatic roles, earning widespread recognition and critical acclaim.
Early Life
Born on September 15, 1946, in San Saba, Texas, Tommy Lee Jones hails from a long line of Texans, being an eighth-generation resident of the state. He is the only child of Clyde Jones, a cowboy turned oil-field worker, and Lucille Marie. Jones’ parents experienced a tumultuous relationship, having married and divorced twice. Reflecting on his youth in interviews, Jones shared that his adolescence was marked by hardship, including physical abuse from his father.
During his teenage years, his father worked in the oil fields of North Africa, prompting Jones to strive for a scholarship to St. Mark’s, an elite prep school in Dallas, to stay in the U.S. A gifted student and athlete, Jones ultimately earned a football scholarship to Harvard University. At Harvard, he roomed with future political figure Al Gore for all four years. An English literature major, Jones also became a standout athlete, playing offensive guard for the Harvard football team, earning All-Ivy honors, and participating in several dramatic productions, most notably playing the title role in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus.
Pursuing Acting
After graduating from Harvard in 1969, Jones shifted his focus to acting, a career he had long been drawn to. He first appeared in off-Broadway productions before securing a regular role on the soap opera One Life to Live, where he portrayed Dr. Mark Toland from 1971 to 1975. His feature film debut came in 1970 in the romantic drama Love Story, in which he played a supporting role as the roommate of Ryan O’Neal’s character.
Frustrated with the limited opportunities on Broadway, Jones moved to Hollywood in 1975. His early Hollywood career included a prominent role in the debut of the television series Charlie’s Angels and his first leading role in the 1976 crime drama Jackson County Jail, produced by Roger Corman. Over the next two decades, Jones built a solid body of work in both film and television, earning praise for his performances in TV movies such as The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977) and The Executioner’s Song (1982), the latter of which won him an Emmy Award.
In 1989, Jones starred in the acclaimed CBS miniseries Lonesome Dove, which further solidified his reputation as a versatile actor. His film career also saw him earn recognition for his supporting roles in Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980) and JFK (1991), the latter earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Clay Shaw, a businessman implicated in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Jones’ career trajectory took a dramatic turn with The Fugitive, which established him as a leading man in Hollywood.
Big Break
Jones’s breakout role came in 1992 when he delivered a dynamic performance as a villainous ex-CIA operative in Under Siege, a thriller starring Steven Seagal and directed by Andrew Davis. This role marked a significant leap in his career, introducing his talents to a broader audience. However, it was his performance in Davis’s The Fugitive (1993) that solidified his status as a Hollywood A-lister. Based on the popular 1960s television series, the film starred Harrison Ford as a doctor wrongfully convicted of his wife’s murder, who escapes prison in search of the real killer. The film earned critical acclaim and grossed over $170 million, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of all time. As the tough yet sympathetic U.S. marshal pursuing Ford’s character, Jones delivered a standout performance that nearly eclipsed his more famous co-star. This role earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Following The Fugitive, Jones enjoyed a string of commercial successes, starring in Natural Born Killers (1994), The Client (1994), and Blown Away (1994). While these films were box-office hits, some of his other projects, such as Heaven and Earth (1993), Blue Sky (1994), and Cobb (1994), were less successful. In 1995, he portrayed the villain Two-Face in the commercially successful but critically panned Batman Forever.
His next major success came in 1997 with the release of Men in Black, a science fiction action-comedy where Jones starred alongside Will Smith as two U.S. immigration agents battling an alien invasion. The film showcased their comedic chemistry and became a summer blockbuster. Although his subsequent projects—Volcano (1997), Small Soldiers (1998), and U.S. Marshals (1998)—were less well-received, Jones rebounded with another hit in 1999, starring in the action-thriller Double Jeopardy alongside Ashley Judd.
Mainstream Success
In 2000, Jones continued his string of successes with the courtroom drama Rules of Engagement, in which he portrayed a lawyer defending a marine colonel played by Samuel L. Jackson. That same year, he starred in Space Cowboys, a well-received film about a group of retired astronauts, alongside Clint Eastwood, James Garner, and Donald Sutherland.
Jones’s career reached new heights in 2007 when he played Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in the critically acclaimed No Country for Old Men, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. He was also nominated for Best Actor for his role as Hank Deerfield in In the Valley of Elah (2007).
In September 2008, Jones filed a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures, claiming that the studio owed him more than $10 million in “box-office bonuses” and other back-end compensation for his work on No Country for Old Men. The case went to arbitration, resulting in a settlement of over $15 million.
In the following years, Jones continued to have a steady stream of work. In 2010, he appeared in the drama The Company Men alongside Ben Affleck and Chris Cooper. The next year, he played a supporting role in the blockbuster Captain America: The First Avenger.
Jones had a particularly busy 2012, starring in four very different films. He reprised his role in Men in Black 3, reunited with Will Smith, then starred alongside Meryl Streep in Hope Springs, portraying one half of a couple trying to save their marriage. Additionally, he portrayed historical figures in two films: as Thaddeus Stevens in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (2012) and as a key figure in the Civil War era.
Personal Life and Spouse
A passionate polo player and horseman, Jones owns a 3,000-acre ranch in his hometown of San Saba, Texas, located about 150 miles from San Antonio.
Jones has been married three times. His first marriage was to actress and writer Katherine Lardner in the early 1970s, but they divorced after seven years. In 1981, he married Kimberlea Cloughley, whom he met on the set of Back Roads (1981). The couple had two children, Austin and Victoria, before divorcing in 1996. In March 2001, Jones married his longtime girlfriend, photographer Dawn Laurel. The couple met while Jones was directing the 1995 TV movie The Good Old Boys.