Buck Jones

Buck Jones
Jones in 1926
Born	Charles Gebhart December 12, 1891(1891-12-12) Vincennes, Indiana
Died	November 30, 1942 (aged 52) Boston, Massachusetts
Years active	1913-1942

Buck Jones (December 12, 1891^[1] – November 30, 1942) was an American motion picture star of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, best known for his work starring in many popular western movies. In his early film appearances, he was billed as Charles Jones.

Early life, military service

Charles Frederick Gebhart was born on the outskirts of Vincennes, Indiana on December 12, 1891. (Some sources erroneously indicate December 4, 1889, but Jones's marriage license and his military records confirm the 1891 date.^[2]) In 1907, Jones joined the US Army at age sixteen, after his mother signed a release form authorizing his enlistment. He was initially assigned to Troop G, 6th Cavalry Regiment. He served in combat and was wounded in the Philippine islands during the Moro Rebellion, deploying there in October 1907, returning to the U.S. in December 1909. He was discharged honorably that same year, at Fort McDowell, California.

Jones had an affection for racecars and the racing industry, and became close friends with early racecar driver Harry Stillman. Due to his association with Stillman, he began working for the Marmon Motor Company, where he test drove many of their vehicles. However, by 1910 he had re-enlisted in the US Army. In 1913 he requested a transfer to the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps. He requested this due to his desire to become a pilot, however only officers were allowed pilot training. He received his second honorable discharge from the Army in October 1913.

Cowboy, stuntman, beginning of film career

Following his military service, he began working as a cowboy on the 101 Ranch near Bliss, Oklahoma. While attending equestrian shows he met Odille "Dell" Osborne, who rode horses professionally. The two became involved, and married in 1915. Both had very little money, so the producers of a Wild West Show they were working on at the time offered to allow them to marry in an actual show performance, in public, which they accepted. He and his wife formed their own riding expedition show, and toured the U.S.

While in Los Angeles, and with his wife pregnant, Jones decided to leave the cowboy life behind and get a job in the film industry. He was hired by Universal Pictures for $5 per day as a bit player and stuntman. He later worked for Canyon Pictures, then Fox Film Corporation, eventually earning $40 per week as a stuntman. With Fox his salary increased to $150 per week, and company executive William Fox decided to use him as a backup to Tom Mix.

This led to his first starring role, The Last Straw, released in 1920. In 1925 Jones made three films with the then very young Carole Lombard. By 1928 he started his own company, "The Big Hop", which failed. By the 1930s he was on contract with Columbia Pictures, and his career steadily increased from there.

Stardom and death

Jones had more than 160 film credits to his name, in a career that began in 1918. By the 1920s, Jones joined Hoot Gibson, Tom Mix, and Ken Maynard as the top cowboy actors of the day. In the 1940s, Jones played Marshall Buck Roberts in a series of movies. During his career, he would develop a lifelong friendship with Scott R. Dunlap, a director and producer who would work with him on many of his films. Jones was also a consultant to the Daisy Outdoor Products company, which issued a Daisy "Buck Jones" model pump action air rifle. Incorporating a compass and a "sundial" into the stock, it was one of Daisy's top-end air rifles, and sold well for several years. This led to some confusion with the release of the well-known holiday film A Christmas Story, based on author Jean Shepherd's erroneous recollection that the Daisy "Red Ryder" model air gun had a compass and sundial in the stock (it never did at any time during it's production, save the two specially made examples for the film).

Buck Jones was one of the 492 victims of the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston, Massachusetts, dying two days after the November 28 blaze. For years, legend held that Jones' fatal injuries were the result of his going back into the burning building to save victims, but it is now known that he was trapped in the fire.

Buck Jones' daughter, Maxine Jones (b. 1918) married Noah Beery, Jr. in 1940.

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References in Popular Media

On his album When I Was a Kid, Bill Cosby has a routine called "Buck Jones," in which he talks about seeing Buck Jones movies as a kid. He says that Buck Jones had a horse named Silver, like the Lone Ranger, and that he would chew gum to signal that he was getting angry. Cosby mentions a specific movie in which a saloon tough picks a fight by pouring "Red Eye" liquor over Jones.

Notes

External links

• Buck Jones at the Internet Movie Database
• Article on Buck Jones and his role, if any, in rescuing victims from the fire
• Buck Jones on Find-A-Grave
• Buck Jones
• Buck Jones, brief bio