Tommy Lee Jones turns 70

The Fugitive (1993) – One of my favorite movie trailers ever.

tommyleeJonesOn these Facebook ads I see often, one of the questions is which actor was former Vice-President Al Gore’s roommate in college. Yes, it’s the guy from Texas, Tommy Lee Jones.

In fact, “in 1970 he landed his first film role, coincidentally playing a Harvard student in Love Story (Erich Segal, the author of Love Story, said that he based the lead character of Oliver on the two undergraduate roommates he knew while attending Harvard, Jones, and Gore).”

“At the 2000 Democratic National Convention, he presented the nominating speech for…Gore, as the Democratic Party’s nominee for President of the United States.”

He was a guest star in a bunch of dramatic shows such as Barnaby Jones and Baretta that I used to watch. But it was before I knew who Tommy Lee Jones was. I did see him in these movies, and almost always like HIM, even when the movie is not great.

Lincoln (2012) – Thaddeus Stevens. I was rather fond of his portrayal. Jones received his fourth Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actor
Hope Springs (2012) – as a part of a couple aging.
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
A Prairie Home Companion (2006)
Space Cowboys (2000) – a bunch of aging astronauts

Men in Black (1997) – the movie that sealed Tommy Lee Jones as a bankable actor
Batman Forever (1995) – as Two-Face / Harvey Dent
The Fugitive (1993) – One of my favorite movie trailers ever. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford): But I’m innocent! US Marshall Samuel Gerard (Jones): I don’t CARE!” No wonder he won Best Supporting Actor for his performance
JFK (1991) – as Clay Shaw. If I’m remembering right, he was sleazily great. He earned another Oscar nomination

Lonesome Dove (TV Mini-Series, 1989) – he earned another Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Texas Ranger lawman Woodrow F. Call in the acclaimed mini-series, based on the best-seller by Larry McMurtry
The Executioner’s Song (TV Movie, 1982) as Gary Mark Gilmore. Chilling. He received an Emmy for Best Actor for his performance as the murderer in an adaptation of Norman Mailer’s book
Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980) as Doolittle Lynn; for which he earned his first Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of country singer Loretta Lynn’s husband

Author: Roger

I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.

3 thoughts on “Tommy Lee Jones turns 70”

  1. I love that quote from “The Fugitive” as well. And after he says it, he pulls out an ice pack and helps Harrison Ford put it on his wrists, to ease the pain from the handcuffs. It’s a great scene.

  2. When I was an aimless 17 year-old, I spent a lot of time at the movies in the summer of 1993. Between first run and ESPECIALLY second-run, I must have seen that movie 25 times. They kept holding that over at the dollar theater, too, because it was so popular. It was packed for weeks, well into the holiday season. Remember when dollar shows would do that? That movie came out in August, hit the dollar show in October, and stayed there until, I think, January, with the occasional holiday movie in there for a matinee.

    I was actually a little put out that Jones won Best Supporting Actor that year, since I was all about Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List winning. Then I read about just how much of his dialogue was improvised, and that was really, really impressive. I actually still have my paperback copy of the novelization, written from the screenplay, and Gerard’s dialogue is a LOT less interesting.

    He quickly became one of my favorite actors after that.

  3. We are big TLJ fans, in spite of his sellout for Capital One (or whatever the financial institution was), doing those commercials.

    The Fugitive has one of my alltime favorite set pieces, the train wreck; it also has that classic scene you cited at the end of the water sluice, “I don’t care!”

    The follow-up, US Marshals, was wonderful in its own way. Same nail-biters in place, more of the sidekicks. Just to see him in the opening sequence in the damned chicken suit, we laugh every time!! Thanks, Rog. Amy

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial