If you grew up loving the live-action Disney films, you probably would have seen Dean Jones at some point. That Darn Cat and The Love Bug are probably two of the most well-known films. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the 84-year-old "Jones died Tuesday of complications from Parkinson's disease in Los Angeles, publicist Richard Hoffman announced."
A natural at comedy, Jones' films for Disney grossed over $960 million dollars.
(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Jones would begin his Disney career with the 1965 film That Darn Cat. His most famous entry for Disney though, is the 1968 film The Love Bug. He starred as a down-on-his-luck race car driver who crosses paths with a Volkswagen Beetle with a personality and mind all of its own. In much of the film, Jones and Herbie, the love bug, fight for control of the race with hilarious results. He would later star in the 1977 sequel Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo.
Born January 25 1931 in Decatur, Alabama, Jones made his film debut opposite Paul Newman in the film Somebody Up There Likes Me. Jones would step out of the shadows of being just a supporting actor to being a lead when he starred for Disney. Not only the audience loved Jones but Walt Disney himself admired the actor. Says The New York Daily News, "The boyish-looking performer was a favorite of Walt Disney, who called him out of the blue to praise the young man for his work on the 1960s TV series Ensign O' Toole."
Jones became a born again Christian in the 1970s and did social work for the church. "He is survived by his wife, the writer Lory Basham Jones, three children, Caroline Jones, Deanna Demarree, and Michael Pastick as well as eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren," according to Variety.
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