Tommy Lee Jones facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tommy Lee Jones
Jones in 2017
Born	(1946-09-15) September 15, 1946 (age 78) San Saba, Texas, U.S.
Education	Harvard University (AB)
Occupation	Actor film director
Years active	1969–present
Works	Full list
Spouse(s)	Katherine Lardner ​ ​ (m. 1971; div. 1978)​ Kimberlea Cloughley ​ ​ (m. 1981; div. 1996)​ Dawn Laurel ​ (m. 2001)​
Children	2
Awards	Full List

Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is a famous American actor. He has won many important awards for his acting. These include an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and an Emmy Award.

Jones became well-known in the 1990s. He is famous for playing tough and serious characters in movies. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the movie The Fugitive (1993).

He was also nominated for Oscars for other roles. These include Clay Shaw in JFK (1991) and Thaddeus Stevens in Lincoln (2012). Many people know him as Agent K from the Men in Black movies.

Some of his other popular movies are Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), Under Siege (1992), Batman Forever (1995), and No Country for Old Men (2007). He also appeared in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and Jason Bourne (2016).

Jones won an Emmy Award for playing Gary Gilmore in The Executioner's Song (1982). He also directed and starred in the movie The Good Old Boys (1995).

Early Life and School

Jones in high school, 1964

Tommy Lee Jones was born on September 15, 1946, in San Saba, Texas. His mother, Lucille Marie Jones, worked as a police officer and teacher. His father, Clyde C. Jones, was a cowboy and oil field worker.

Jones grew up in Midland, Texas. He went to Robert E. Lee High School. Later, he moved to Dallas and graduated from the St. Mark's School of Texas in 1965. He attended this school with a scholarship.

College Years

Jones went to Harvard College in 1965. He received financial help to attend. While at Harvard, he lived with Al Gore, who later became the Vice President of the United States.

Jones studied English literature and graduated in 1969. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors.

College Football

Jones played football for the Harvard Crimson football team from 1965 to 1968. He was a guard on the team. In 1968, his team had a perfect season and did not lose any games.

He was chosen as a top player in the Ivy League. He played in the famous 1968 game against Yale, where Harvard made an amazing comeback to tie the game.

Acting Career

Jones in 2006

After college in 1969, Jones moved to New York City to become an actor. He first appeared on Broadway in a play called A Patriot for Me.

In 1970, he got his first movie role. He played a Harvard student in the film Love Story. The author of the book, Erich Segal, said he based the main character on Tommy Lee Jones and Al Gore.

From 1971 to 1975, he acted in the TV show One Life to Live. He also played the main role in the TV movie The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977).

Early Film Roles (1976–1982)

Jones played different roles in movies during the 1970s. He was a hunted escaped prisoner in Jackson County Jail (1976). He also played a Vietnam veteran in Rolling Thunder (1977).

In 1980, he received his first Golden Globe nomination. This was for his role as Doolittle "Mooney" Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter. He played the husband of country singer Loretta Lynn.

Breakthrough and Awards (1983–2004)

In 1983, Jones won an Emmy Award for his role in the TV movie The Executioner's Song. He played a murderer named Gary Gilmore.

In 1989, he was nominated for another Emmy. This was for his role as Texas Ranger Woodrow F. Call in the TV mini-series Lonesome Dove.

The 1990s were a big time for Jones. He starred in many popular movies. These include JFK (1991), which earned him an Oscar nomination.

He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Fugitive (1993). He played Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard. He later played this character again in the sequel, U.S. Marshals (1998).

Other well-known roles in the 1990s include:

• A terrorist in Under Siege (1992).
• "Reverend" Roy Foltrigg in The Client (1994).
• A prison warden in Natural Born Killers (1994).
• Two-Face in Batman Forever (1995).
• Agent K in Men in Black (1997) with Will Smith.

In 2000, Jones acted with Clint Eastwood in Space Cowboys. They played retired pilots on a space rescue mission. In 2002, he returned as Agent K in Men in Black II.

Recent Work (2005–Present)

Jones at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival

In 2005, Jones directed his first movie for theaters, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. He also starred in it and won the Best Actor Award at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.

In 2007, he had two strong performances. He played a father looking for his missing soldier son in In the Valley of Elah. He also played a Texas sheriff in the Oscar-winning movie No Country for Old Men. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for In the Valley of Elah.

Since 2006, Jones has been a spokesperson for a Japanese coffee brand called Boss. He plays a character called "Alien Jones" in their TV commercials.

In 2012, Jones played Agent K again in Men in Black 3. He also played Thaddeus Stevens in Steven Spielberg's movie Lincoln. His acting in Lincoln was highly praised, and he received his fourth Oscar nomination.

Since Lincoln, Jones has continued to appear in popular films. These include Jason Bourne (2016) and Ad Astra (2019).

Personal Life

Tommy Lee Jones has been married three times. He has two children from his second marriage. In 2001, he married his current wife, Dawn Laurel.

Jones lives in Terrell Hills, Texas. He also owns a large cattle ranch in San Saba County, Texas. He enjoys playing polo, a sport played on horseback. He is a big fan of the San Antonio Spurs basketball team.

In 2000, he gave a speech to support his college roommate, Al Gore, who was running for President of the United States.

Filmography

Awards and Honors

See also

In Spanish: Tommy Lee Jones para niños

• Notable alumni of St. Mark's School of Texas