, a colorful mainstay of TV and movie westerns and frequent collaborator with Sam Peckinpah, actually was born Justus Ellis McQueen Jr. in Beaumont, Texas. But he professionally rechristened himself after playing a character named L.Q. Jones in his first feature film, Raoul Walsh’s (1955). Under that name, he appeared in dozens of movies and television series during a career that spanned, , , , , , , , and several others, usually in villainous roles. He also co-starred frequently in movies directed by Peckinpah, including , , , and , and made an especially vivid impression in Peckinpah’s as a grubby bounty hunter partnered with an equally dodgy Strother Martin. Among the other films on Jones’ resume: (1960), (1960), (1964), (1966), (1968), (1971), (1983), (1998), and (1998). Jones played continuing roles on two television series — Andy Belden in and Sheriff Lew Wallace in — and in 1975 wrote and directed , a darkly comical cult favorite about a teenager (Don Johnson) and his telepathic canine companion (voiced by Jason Robards) struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic Southwest. Martin Scorsese cast Jones for a key scene opposite Robert De Niro in (1995) — and reportedly asked him to adjust his dialogue so his character would sound more authentically Western. Jones was more than happy to oblige. Jones was 94 when he passed away July 9 at his home in the Hollywood Hills.
