Henry Jones

It is, unsurprisingly, not easy to research the esteemed character actor Henry Jones. Even Wikipedia assumes you are asking about esteemed archaeologist Henry Jones instead. Finding a picture of him is likewise extremely complicated because of the search issues. I’m not sure I found one clear enough for you to know who I’m talking about. I’m not sure I can, in the right size to be an article image using my usual format of “the first place I think of him.” I hope, however, that we can by the end of the article make you aware of who he is and where you might know him from.

This particular Henry Jones was born in New Jersey and grew up in Philadelphia. His grandfather had been a US Representative for Pennsylvania who opposed supporting the British in the Boer War and was involved in the tanning and meatpacking industries. Jones started in the theatre in Philadelphia, and in 1938 was in Hamlet on Broadway; he played Reynaldo and Second Gravedigger. He had previously been in a play called She Lived Next to the Firehouse, the full script of which is on the Internet Archive but of which I can find no plot summary.

In 1943, Jones was one of many actual soldiers in Irving Berlin’s This Is the Army. He then went into, you know, the army. Upon his return, he went back to the stage. Then, starting in 1950, he began appearing on television. He did a lot of the early playhouse shows, including our beloved Lux Video Theatre, but although he kept appearing on the playhouse shows as long as there were playhouse shows to appear on, he also made it onto The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show in 1950. He was on dozens of shows over the years, including appearing as Phyllis’s father-in-law on Phyllis for dozens of episodes.

His first movie was in 1951, when he appeared as “Potsy” in The Lady Says No. No, I have never heard of this, either. But I’ve heard of The Bad Seed, and so have you—and if you haven’t, you should read my article about it. He is extremely memorable in the role of Leroy. And if he continued to appear in the occasional turkey—including the Castle-produced Project X, where I can only assume he played a mad scientist—he was also in a lot of stone-cold classics. 3:10 to Yuma. Vertigo. Both The Girl Can’t Help It and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? My beloved Support Your Local Sheriff! 9 to 5. His final movie was The Grifters.

You know the face. You’d know the voice, if you heard it. The career is frankly astounding, covering forty-five years of television, from Father Knows Best to I Married Dora, ranging from the greats to the obscure, classics and turkeys. Dozens of movies. Over two hundred credits on IMDb, not to mention his stage career. And if he didn’t find the Holy Grail, well, you are kind of left wondering why Lucas and Spielberg didn’t at least give him a bit part in the movie.