Tommy Lee Jones was born on September 15, 1946, inSan Saba, Texas.[2] His mother, Lucille Marie Jones (née Scott; 1928–2013),[3] was a police officer, schoolteacher, and beauty shop owner. His father, Clyde C. Jones (1926–1986), was a cowboy and oil field worker.[4] The two were married and divorced twice. Jones is ofCherokee descent.[5] He was raised inMidland, Texas,[6] and attendedRobert E. Lee High School. Jones later moved to Dallas and graduated from theSt. Mark's School of Texas in 1965,[7] which he attended on scholarship.
After graduating from Harvard in 1969, Jones moved toNew York City to become an actor, making hisBroadway debut in 1969'sA Patriot for Me in a number of supporting roles. In 1970, he landed his first film role, coincidentally playing a Harvard student inLove Story (Erich Segal, the author ofLove Story, said that he based the lead character of Oliver on aspects of two undergraduate roommates he knew while on asabbatical at Harvard, Jones andAl Gore).[14]
In the 1990s, Jones was featured in numerous blockbuster films. He starred asClay Shaw inJFK (1991), receivingBAFTA andAcademy Award nominations. InThe Fugitive (1993), co-starringHarrison Ford, his performance as relentless and sharp-witted Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard inThe Fugitive received broad acclaim. He receivedGolden Globe andBAFTA nominations and won theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor. When he accepted hisOscar, his head was shaved for his role in the filmCobb (1994), which he made light of in his speech: "The only thing a man can say at a time like this is 'I am not really bald'. Actually I'm lucky to be working". He reprised the role of Gerard in the sequel,U.S. Marshals (1998). He playedHarvey Dent / Two-Face inBatman Forever (1995) and starred as Michael "Mike" Roark inVolcano (1997) co-starringAnne Heche andDon Cheadle. His role as grizzled alien investigatorKevin Brown / Agent K inMen in Black (1997), withWill Smith, brought him critical acclaim with critics and audiences. Among his other well-known performances during the 1990s were those of a terrorist who hijacks a U.S. Navy battleship inUnder Siege (1992), an ambitious U.S. Attorney "Reverend" Roy Foltrigg inThe Client (1994), an overwhelmed maximum-security prison warden inNatural Born Killers (1994), and a parole officer inDouble Jeopardy (1999).
In 2000, Jones co-starred withSamuel L. Jackson as a Vietnam War veteran and Marine colonel serving as Jackson's defense attorney in the filmRules of Engagement, and co-starred with directorClint Eastwood as astronauts in the filmSpace Cowboys, in which both played retired pilots and friends/rivals leading a space rescue mission together. In 2002, he and Will Smith co-starred in theMen in Black sequel,Men in Black II.
Jones has been a spokesman for Japanese brewing companySuntory since 2006. He can be seen in various Japanese television commercials of Suntory's Coffee brandBoss as a character called "Alien Jones", an extraterrestrial who takes the form of a human to check on the world of humans. Many of these commercials can be seen on YouTube.[19] In 2011, Jones appeared inpublic service announcements on Japanese television, joining a number of other popular figures who sang two sentimental songs in remembrance of those lost in the2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
Jones was married to Kate Lardner, the niece of screenwriter and journalistRing Lardner Jr., from 1971 to 1978.[22] He has two children, Austin and Victoria, from his second marriage to Kimberlea Cloughley, who is the daughter ofPhil Hardberger, a former mayor of San Antonio.[23] On March 19, 2001, he married his third wife, Dawn Laurel.[24][25]
On January 1, 2026, Jones' 34-year-old daughter, Victoria, was found dead in a San Francisco hotel from an apparentdrug overdose.[32][33] Court documents indicate that she had struggled with drug and alcohol use in the months leading up to her death.[34] In August 2023, records show that Victoria had been held involuntarily at a hospital inGreenbrae, California, after being deemed a danger to herself or others; she requested that a conservator transfer her to arehabilitation facility upon release.[35] Jones successfully petitioned the court to place her underconservatorship, citing her risk of "life-threatening conduct" and need fordrug rehabilitation, but later asked the court to dismiss the matter in the following months.[35]
Grunert, Andrea, "Les bons et les méchants selon Tommy Lee Jones", in: Francis Bordat et Serge Chauvin (eds.)Les bons et les méchants Université Paris X, 2005, p. 339–352,ISBN2-907335-30-8
.jpg)
