Sam Peckinpah classics actor and director of 'A Boy and His Dog,' L.Q. Jones dies at 94
Jul 10, 2022
Washington [US], July 10 : L.Q. Jones, a seasoned character actor whose career spanned seven decades, passed away on Saturday from natural causes at his home in the Hollywood Hills. He was 94.
According to Variety, Jones' grandson, Erte deGarces, verified his passing. Jones passed away surrounded by his family, according to DeGarces.
Jones, who has been married to Sue Lewis for 23 years, was born Justice Ellis McQueen on August 19, 1927, in Beaumont, Texas. Jones attended the University of Texas at Austin. They split up in the 1970s.
When McQueen had his first movie part in the 1955 Raoul Walsh picture "Battle Cry," he adopted his stage name, L.Q. Jones. Jones would use the moniker for the duration of his acting career on film. His most recent role was in Robert Altman's swan song movie "A Prairie Home Companion" in 2006.
In the middle of the 20th century, Jones worked with some of Hollywood's most renowned directors, including Walsh, Don Siegel for "An Annapolis Story," and Mervyn LeRoy for "Toward the Unknown."
He also frequently appeared as a supporting character in Sam Peckinpah's action-packed westerns, including "Pat Garrett and the Kid," "The Wild Bunch," "Ride the High Country," "Major Dundee," and "The Battle of Cable Hogue." Jones also appeared in "The Mask of Zorro" by Martin Campbell, "The Patriot" by Roland Emmerich, and "Casino" by Martin Scorsese near the end of the century.
Jones was a mainstay on TV and amassed 60 screen acting credits over his acting career. His most well-known television roles were in western dramas like "Gunsmoke," "The Virginian," "Wagon Train," "Rawhide," "The Rifleman," "Have Gun, Will Travel," and "The Big Valley."
Jones' career spanned more than just playing on screens; over his life, he produced four stand-alone films. The 1975 motion picture "A Boy and His Dog," which is an adaptation of the same-named novella by Harlan Ellison, was produced, directed, and written by him. Jones started out on the film as the executive producer, but as other colleagues dropped out, he took over the writing and directing duties, as reported by Variety.
"A Boy and His Dog" is a post-apocalyptic black comedy that follows a young man and his telepathic dog as they struggle to survive in the southwestern United States in the year 2024, a year in which nuclear fallout has engulfed the entire planet. The movie, which also stars Jones' fellow Peckinpah alum Jason Robards and a teenage Don Johnson, has developed a cult following over the years. According to Jones, filmmaker George Miller used it as inspiration for his "Mad Max" series.
Randy McQueen, Steve Marshall, and Mindy McQueen, Jones' favourite daughter, are Jones' surviving children.
