We wrote about the career and private life of actor and director Tommy Lee Jones, who was trained for acting, which he dreamed of after a difficult childhood, and was crowned with awards by showing outstanding performances in many TV series and movies.
Tommy Lee Jones was born on September 15, 1946 in San Saba, Texas. His mother is Lucille Marie Scott Jones, a police officer, school teacher and beauty parlor owner, and his Welsh father is Clyde C. Jones, a cowboy and oil field worker. Growing up in Midland, Texas, Jones was educated at what was then Robert E. Lee High School. Moving to Dallas soon after, Jones enrolled at St. Mark's School of Texas there and graduated in 1965.
Enrolling at Harvard College for need-based assistance, Jones graduated in 1969 with a bachelor's degree. Meanwhile, Jones played guard in college football from 1965 to 1968. After graduating, he moved to New York to become an actor, where he made his Broadway debut in a supporting role in a TV series called "A Patriot for Me."
He got her first movie role in 1970, playing a Harvard student in the romantic drama film "Love Story" based on the novel of the same name. He returned to Broadway in early 1971, sharing the stage with Carol Channing and Sid Caesar in Abe Burrows' "Four on a Garden." From 1971 to 1975, he appeared as Dr. Mark Toland on the ABC soap opera "One Life to Live." He then returned to the stage as Stephen Dedalus opposite Zero Mostel in "Ulysses in Nighttown", a play adapted from part of a novel and directed by Burgess Meredith. He continued this by starring in the TV movie "The Amazing Howard Hughes." The movie was liked by the critics.
The following year, he played a hunted and escaped prisoner in the crime thriller "Jackson County Jail" (1976). The movie later became a cult movie. He then played a Vietnam veteran in the psychological thriller "Rolling Thunder" (1977), which received generally positive reviews from critics. He then co-starred with Laurence Olivier as a car tycoon in the romantic drama movie "The Betsy" based on the novel of the same name by Harold Robbins. The film received both negative reviews and moderate success at the box office. That same year, he landed the role of a police detective in the supernatural thriller "Eyes of Laura Mars" with Faye Dunaway. It ended up being a standard financial success alongside mixed reviews.
In 1980, Jones played Doolittle "Mooney" Lynn, husband of country singer Loretta Lynn, in the biographical musical film "Coal Miner's Daughter" directed by Michael Apted. He received his first Golden Globe Award nomination for his performance. In 1981, he co-starred with Sally Field in the role of a vagrant in "Back Roads," a moderately critically acclaimed romantic comedy. In 1983, he played the role of murderer Gary Gilmore in "The Executioner's Song," a biographical crime drama for TV based on Norman Mailer's novel of the same name. He received an Emmy Award for Best Actor for his performance. In the same year, he played the character of pirate captain Bully Hayes in the pirate adventure movie "Nate and Hayes".
In 1988, Jones appeared with Chad Lowe and Robert Urich in "April Morning," a made-for-TV movie version of the Battle of Lexington in the American Revolutionary War. In 1989, he appeared as Texas Ranger Woodrow F. Call in the acclaimed television mini-series "Lonesome Dove" based on a book. He earned an Emmy Award nomination for his performance.
In the following years, he co-starred with Kevin Costner in the epic political thriller "JFK", which received both box office and critical acclaim. He received an Oscar Award nomination for his performance. The following year, he co-starred with Steven Seagal and Gary Busey in the action thriller "Under Siege" directed by Andrew Davis. The film was met with both critical and commercial success.
In 1993, he appeared in the action thriller "The Fugitive" with Harrison Ford. The film became the third highest-grossing film of 1993. He also received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. The following year, he co-starred with Susan Sarandon in the legal thriller "The Client," based on a novel and directed by Joel Schumacher. The film garnered both positive reviews and a healthy gross at the box office. Later in the year, "Natural Born Killers," the crime movie directed by Oliver Stone, also stars Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr. and with Tom Sizemore. The film was successful at the box office, with mixed reviews. Two years later, he went on to appear in the superhero movie "Batman Forever" with Val Kilmer. The film was met with both positive reviews and box office success.
The following year, he appeared in the sequel action crime thriller "US Marshals". The film, which met with a moderate result at the box office, faced mixed reviews. In 1994, he appeared as baseball player Ty Cobb in the biopic "Cobb" written and directed by Ron Shelton. For his performance, he won an Oscar Award and got a haircut for the role. That same year, he co-starred with Jeff Bridges in the action thriller "Blown Away" directed by Stephen Hopkins. Later that year, he co-starred with Jessica Lange in the drama film "Blue Sky" directed by Tony Richardson. The film received both critical acclaim and several awards.
In 1997, he appeared in the disaster movie "Volcano", in which he co-starred with Anne Heche. It was a moderate box office success with mixed reviews. That same year, he was seen in the sci-fi action movie "Men in Black", in which he co-starred with Will Smith. The film, which was acclaimed after its release, became the third-highest-grossing film of 1997 and the ninth-highest-grossing film of the decade.
In 1999, he co-starred with Ashley Judd in the detective thriller "Double Jeopardy" directed by Bruce Beresford. Upon its release, the film was met with both mixed reviews and box office success. The following year, he appeared as one of the leading roles in the adventure drama movie "Space Cowboys" directed by Clint Eastwood. The film, which was well received by the critics, resulted in a healthy success.
In 2002, he re-starred with Will Smith in the sequel "Men in Black II". The film became the fifth highest-grossing film of 2002 with its gross. In 2005, the first feature film directed by Jones, "The Three Tombs of Melquiades Estrada" was made into a western, which was screened at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. He won the Best Actor Award at Cannes for his performance.
He later appeared in the western crime thriller No Country for Old Men, written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, as the Texas sheriff who hunts down an assassin. The film won many awards and nominations in various categories, and is considered one of the best films in the world. His other production came in the same year as a beleaguered father investigating the disappearance of his soldier son in the crime drama movie "In the Valley of Elah," written and directed by Paul Haggis. He received an Academy Award nomination for his performance.
In 2010, Jones starred in the drama film "The Company Men" with Ben Affleck. Jones' performance was praised as "excellent". The following year, Jones appeared in the Marvel Studios superhero movie "Captain America: The First Avenger." Upon its release, the film, which received general praise, was also noted as a box office success. He also co-starred with Samuel L.Jackson in the TV movie "The Sunset Limited", adapted from the novel of the same name, and also directed and produced it.
In 2012 marked another turning point in Jones' career. He made his debut, playing Agent K again in the sci-fi action sequel "Men in Black 3". The film became the tenth highest-grossing film of 2012. Later, he played the character of Arnold Soames in the romantic drama movie "Hope Springs" directed by David Frankel. His career then continued, playing Thaddeus Stevens in the biographical drama film "Lincoln" directed by Steven Spielberg. The film was met with generally positive reviews from critics and a commercial success at the box office. He earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.
The following year, he appeared in the black comedy crime film "The Family," co-written and directed by Luc Besson. In 2014, he took the lead role with Hilary Swank and Meryl Streep in the western historical drama film "The Homesman" directed by Jones. The film garnered mostly positive reviews from critics.
In 2016, he starred in the action thriller "Criminal" directed by Ariel Vromen. The film received both generally negative reviews and was a financial disappointment. Later in the year, he appeared in the sequel "Jason Bourne", an action-thriller directed by Paul Greengrass. The film was a commercial win at the box office, as well as receiving mixed reviews. He then starred in the sequel "Mechanic: Resurrection" action thriller directed by Dennis Gansel. The film, which received mostly negative reviews, was a financial success.
The following year, he starred in the drama film "Shock and Awe", starring and directed by Rob Reiner. In the same year, he appeared in the action comedy movie "Just Getting Started" directed by Ron Shelton. The movie was a box office bombshell and failed. In 2019, he appeared in the psychological science fiction film "Ad Astra" directed by James Gray. Apart from positive reviews, it was able to achieve a moderate financial return.
In 2020, he co-starred with Aaron Eckhart, Katheryn Winnick and Heather Graham in the thriller "Wander" directed by April Mullen. In the same year, he starred in the crime comedy "The Comeback Trail", based on the movie of the same name and directed by George Gallo.
Personal life
From 1971 to 1978, Jones was married to Kate Lardner, the niece of screenwriter and journalist Ring Lardner Jr. His second marriage was to Kimberlea Cloughley, the daughter of the former mayor of San Antonio, Phil Hardberger. The couple had two children and later separated. Jones' third marriage was to Dawn Laurel on March 19, 2001.
Jones lives in Terrell Hills, Texas and speaks Spanish. Also a supporter of the Polo Education Foundation, Jones is an avid San Antonio Spurs basketball team fan. Additionally, Jones has been a spokesperson for Japanese brewing company Suntory since 2006.