Tommy Lee Jones Biography

TOMMY LEE JONES

Date of Birth: September 15, 1946

Been there, done that. When it comes to Tommy Lee Jones, it seems to fit. The Texas-born actor is in no danger of being typecast. He's played a myriad of roles ranging from serial killer Gary Gilmore to a villain in Batman Forever, to Will Smith's sidekick in Men in Black (a role he later reprised for Men in Black 2 in 2002 and Men in Black 3 in 2012). But acting wasn't the first choice of careers for Jones.

Determined not to follow his oil-worker father to Libya, Jones managed to secure a football scholarship to St. Mark's, an upscale prep school in Dallas. He loved football and enjoyed the limelight as a star offensive lineman, but discovered acting along the way when he appeared in a student production of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial. He went on to Harvard on a scholarship and earned a degree in English. There, he roomed with a rich young lad from Tennessee named Al Gore.

Though Jones dreamed of returning to his native Texas to play football for the Dallas Cowboys, his build was too slight for any professional team to recruit him. Instead, he turned to acting once again and headed for New York. Within 12 days of his arrival, he won a part in a Broadway play. He worked steadily over the next few years and even appeared for several seasons on the soap, One Life to Love, as Dr. Mark Boland.

Finally, Jones' big break came when he scored a prominent role on the ABC hit show, Charlie's Angels. He became a sought-after talent, but the A-list was still not within reach despite solid performances in films such as the Coal Miner's Daughter, JFK and Under Seige. The movie that finally did it for him was The Fugitive, where he starred opposite Harrison Ford and took home an Academy Award and a Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actor. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and earned a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 from the Palm Beach Film Festival.

After directing the TV movie The Good Old Boys in 1995, Jones made his feature directorial debut with The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2006).

Jones has been married to third wife, Dawn, since March 2001. They live part time on their cattle ranch near San Antonio Texas. In his spare time, Jones enjoys playing polo. He has a son and a daughter with his second wife, Kimberlea. Aside from Men in Black 3, some of his roles include Hope Springs and Emperor. For his role as Thaddeus Stevens in Lincoln (2012), he received his fourth Academy Award nomination. He followed this career high up with roles in The Family (2013) alongside Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro, and The Homesman (2014).

In recent years, the legendary actor has been seen in Jason Bourne (2016) starring Matt Damon, Mechanic: Resurrection (2016) starring Jason Statham and Rob Reiner's political drama, Shock and Awe(2018). More recently, he was seen alongside Brad Pitt in Ad Astra (2019).

Filmography:

Ad Astra (2019)
Shock and Awe (2018)
Villa Capri (2017)
Mechanic: Resurrection (2016)
Jason Bourne (2016)
Criminal (2016)
The Homesman (2014)
The Family (2013)
Lincoln (2012)
Men in Black III (2012)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
The Company Men (2010)
In the Electric Mist (2009)
In the Valley of Elah (2007)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
A Prairie Home Companion (2006)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
Man of the House (2005)
The Missing (2003)
The Hunted (2002)
Men in Black II (2002)
Rules of Engagement (2000)
Space Cowboys (2000)
Double Jeopardy (1999)
Small Soldiers (1998) (voice)
U.S. Marshals (1998)
Men in Black (1997)
Volcano (1997)
Batman Forever (1995)
Cobb (1994)
Natural Born Killers (1994)
Blown Away (1994)
Blue Sky (1994)
The Client (1994)
Heaven & Earth (1993)
The Fugitive (1993)
House of Cards (1993)
Under Siege (1992)
JFK (1991)
Fire Birds (1990)
The Package (1989)
Stormy Monday (1988)
The Big Town (1987)
Back Moon Rising (1986)
The River Rat (1984)
Nate and Hayes (1983)
Back Roads (1981)
Barn Burning (1980)
Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)
The Betsy (1978)
Rolling Thunder (1977)
Jackson County Jail (1976)
Life Study (1973)
Love Story (1970)
Eliza's Horoscope (1970)