• Jeffrey Duncan Jones is an American actor born in Buffalo, NY in 1946.
• He studied at Putney School and London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
• He has appeared in more than 70 movies and 120 plays.
• He was arrested in 2002 and 2010 for possession of child pornography and failure to register as a sex offender.
• His net worth is estimated at over $1.5 million.
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Who is Jeffrey Jones?
American actor Jeffrey Duncan Jones was born in Buffalo, New York State USA, on 28 September 1946, meaning that his zodiac sign’s Libra. He’s had roles in more than 70 movies and TV series, but is perhaps still best known for his playing of the lead character Dr. Walter Jenning in the popular 1986 action adventure comedy movie “Howard the Duck”, directed by Willard Huyck, and which also starred Lea Thompson and Tim Robbins. It follows a nerdy duck who’s accidentally been teleported to Earth, and now has to help people stop an alien invasion; the film won five of its nine award nominations.
Education and early life
Jeffrey was raised an only child in Buffalo by his father Douglas Bennett Jones and mother Ruth (nee Schooley), who was an art historian. Douglas died when Jeffrey was around two years old.
He studied at Putney School, and was into a couple of activities during his four years there, mostly dancing, and acting with the school’s drama club. Jeffrey matriculated in 1964, and then began attending Lawrence University; he was spotted by British theatrical director Sir William Tyrone Guthrie while appearing in a college play, and thus moved to London, England in 1969, and enrolled at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Jeffrey then spent three years honing his skills at the Stratford Theatre in Ontario, Canada; he’s since appeared in more than 120 plays, performed all around the world.
Roles in movies
His debut film appearance was in the 1970 action “The Revolutionary”, and his following role came in 1978, when cast to play a supporting character in the drama “Interrogation in Budapest”; Jeffrey could then have been seen appearing in the 1982 action adventure thriller “The Soldier”, and in 1983 the romantic comedy “A Fine Romance” and the comedy “Easy Money”.
In 1984, he played Emperor Joseph II in the biographical musical drama “Amadeus”, which Milos Forman directed, and which starred Elizabeth Berridge, Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham. It follows the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the movie won 51 of its 66 award nominations, eight of them Oscars, including Best Picture. The remainder of the decade saw Jeffrey appear in a couple of critically acclaimed movies, such as the 1986 comedy “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, the 1987 war drama “The Hanoi Hilton”, and the 1988 fantasy comedy “Beetlejuice”.
The year 1993 saw him play Minister in the popular biographical action “Heaven & Earth”, directed by Oliver Stone, and which starred Hiep Thi Le, Tommy Lee Jones and Haing S. Ngor. Set during the Vietnam War, the movie follows a Vietnamese woman and her struggles – the film won one of its three award nominations. Jeffrey could then have been seen appearing in the 1994 biographical comedy “Ed Wood”, which won Oscars for Best Make-up and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Martin Landau), the 1997 mystery thriller “The Devil’s Advocate”, and the 1999 crime thriller comedy “Flypaper”.
What marked the 2000s for him was perhaps his playing of Richard Cummings in the 2007 sports comedy “Who’s Your Caddy?”, written and directed by Don Michael Paul, and in which Jeffrey starred alongside Big Boi and Terry Crews. It follows a rap mogul who’s trying to join a conservative country club – the film won one of its two award nominations.
Jeffrey’s since appeared in only four movies, most recently in the 2014 action adventure “10.0 Earthquake”, the 2016 short drama “7 Days”, and the 2019 western “Deadwood: The Movie”.
Roles in TV series
Jeffrey’s debut TV series appearance was in the 1976 historical mini-series “The Adams Chronicles”, while he could then have been seen appearing in an episode of the western “Sara”, the comedy “Great Performances”, and the crime action “Kojak”.
In 1986, he portrayed Mr. Acme in the comedy “Fresno”, which starred Carol Burnett, Dabney Coleman and Gregory Harrison, and follows the life of widowed matriarch Charlotte Kensington; the series was nominated for 12 awards, including five Primetime Emmys. The ‘80s also saw Jeffrey appear in an episode of the fantasy horror “The Twilight Zone”, the crime mystery “If Tomorrow Comes”, and the adventure comedy “Amazing Stories”.
He focused on appearing in movies in the ‘90s, having appeared in only an episode of a couple of series; his following notable performance was in 2004, when cast to play one of the lead characters A.W. Merrick in the hit historical crime drama “Deadwood”, which David Milch created, and which also starred Ian McShane and Timothy Olyphant. Set in the late 1800s, the series follows the people living in Deadwood, South Dakota, aired from 2004 to 2006, and won 36 of its 121 award nominations – this also remains Jeffrey’s most recent TV series role.
Happy 73rd Birthday to Jeffrey Jones! #JeffreyJones #FerrisBuellersDayOff #HowardTheDuck #Beetlejuice #TheHuntForTheRedOctober #StuartLittle #SleepyHollow #HowHigh #Deadwood pic.twitter.com/l3T89uQKTQ
— Jake with the Ob (@mnralphie) September 28, 2019
Other credits
Jeffrey sang the song “Happy Trails” in the 1989 episode “You Show Me Yours” of the fantasy comedy series “The People Next Door”.
He received special thanks for the 2002 documentary movie “The Making of ‘Amadeus’”.
Jeffrey worked as a social media coordinator on the 2020 episode “Chris Jericho’s 30th Anniversary Celebration” of the sports action show “AEW Dynamite”.
Some of the talk-shows in which Jeffrey’s made a guest appearance include “Showbiz Today”, “HBO First Look” and “Biography”.
Awards and nominations
Jeffrey’s won one of his six award nominations: a 2011 Grammy for Best Historical Album, for “The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings)”.
Love life and wife
Jeffrey prefers not to share the details of his love life with his fans, but it’s known that he’s today a father of one. He met Canadian voice coach Lloy Couts sometime in the second half the ‘70s, in Stratford, Ontario and she gave birth to their son Julian Coutts on 23 October 1971; Julian’s today a film producer and actor, perhaps best known for producing all 36 episodes of the animated action adventure series “Harley Quinn”, which has been airing since 2019.
It remains unknown for how long Jeffrey and Lloy were together, but she passed away in 2008, aged 67.
Jeffrey hasn’t spoken of other women whom he’s been with, and he seems to be single as of December 2022, and has a son with his former girlfriend Lloy Coutts.
Interesting facts and hobbies
The man who interviewed Jeffrey in 1989 stated that he found him to be a rather simple man, disinterested in fame, and that some of his favorite things are everyday chores, including home repairs.
In 2002, Jeffrey was arrested after the police found child pornography in his possession, while a 17 years old boy accused him of solicitation to pose nude. He was put on a five years’ probation, and was ordered to register as a sex offender; he was arrested in 2004 and then in 2010, both times because he had failed to register as a sex offender.
Jeffrey’s a member of the fraternity Beta Theta Pi.
Some of his favorite actors are Clint Eastwood, George Clooney and Keanu Reeves, and some of his favorite movies include “Cry Macho”, Unforgiven”, and “Escape from Alcatraz”.
Height, eyes and wealth
Jeffrey’s age is 76. His eyes are light blue and he has brown hair, his height is 6ft 4ins (1.92m) and he weighs around 220lbs (99kgs).
Jeffrey’s net worth’s been estimated at over $1.5 million, as of December 2022.
