Biography
Dickie Jones (February 25, 1927 – July 7, 2014) was American actor who achieved some success as a child and as a young adult, especially in B-Westerns and in television. The son of a Texas newspaper editor, Jones was a prodigious horseman from infancy, billed at the age of four as the World's Youngest Trick Rider and Trick Roper. At the age of six, he was hired to perform riding and lariat tricks in the rodeo owned by western star Hoot Gibson. Gibson convinced young Jones and his parents that there was a place for him in Hollywood, and the boy and his mother went west. Gibson arranged for some small parts for the boy, whose good looks, energy, and pleasant voice quickly landed him more and bigger parts, both in low-budget Westerns and in more substantial productions. In 1940, he had one of his most prominent (although invisible) roles, as the voice of Pinocchio (1940) in Walt Disney's animated film of the same name. Jones attended Hollywood High School and, at 15, took over the role of Henry Aldrich on the hit radio show "The Aldrich Family." He learned carpentry and augmented his income with jobs in that field. He served in the Army in Alaska during the final months of World War II. Gene Autry, who before the war had cast Jones in several Westerns, put him back to work in films and particularly in television, on programs produced by Autry's company. Now billed as Dick Jones, the handsome young man starred as Dick West, sidekick to the Western hero known as The Range Rider (1951), in a TV series that ran for 76 episodes in 1951 (and for decades in syndication). Then Autry gave Jones his own series, Buffalo Bill, Jr. (1955), which ran for 40 episodes. Jones continued working in films throughout the 1950s, then retired and entered the business world.
Acted in 80
1980s
- 1986
Walt Disney's Wet and Wild
Pinocchio (voice)
1960s
- 1965
Requiem for a Gunfighter
Cliff Fletcher
- 1964
The Devil's Bedroom
Norm
- 1962
The Night Rider
Billy Joe
- 1961
Shadow of the Boomerang
Bob Prince
1950s
- 1958
The Cool and the Crazy
Stu Summerville (as Dick Jones)
- 1956
The Wild Dakotas
Mike McGeehee
Savage Fury
Jan Trevor, as a boy
- 1955
Buffalo Bill Jr.
Buffalo Bill Jr. · 42 episodes
- 1954
The Bamboo Prison
Jackie
- 1953
Last of the Pony Riders
Johnny Blair
- 1952
The Old West
Pinto
Wagon Team
Dave Weldon
- 1951
The Range Rider
Dick West · 77 episodes
- 1950
Redwood Forest Trail
Mighty Mite
Military Academy with That Tenth Avenue Gang
Richard Reilly (uncredited)
1940s
- 1949
Sons of New Mexico
Randy Pryor
- 1948
The Strawberry Roan
Joe Bailey
- 1944
Musical Movieland
Tourist (uncredited)
The Adventures of Mark Twain
Young Samuel Clemens
- 1943
Mountain Rhythm
Darwood Gates Alton
- 1942
The Vanishing Virginian
Robert Yancey, Jr.
- 1941
Adventure in Washington
Abbott
- 1940
Brigham Young
Henry Kent
The Howards of Virginia
Matt Howard at 12
Maryland
Lee Danfield, Age 12
1930s
- 1939
Destry Rides Again
Claggett Boy
Sky Patrol
Bobby Landis
The Man Who Dared
Bill Carter
Sergeant Madden
Dennis Madden, as a boy
Nancy Drew... Reporter
Killer Parkins
Woman Doctor
Johnny
- 1938
Land of Fighting Men
Jimmy Mitchell
Girls on Probation
Magazine Newsboy
A Man to Remember
Dick Abbott (as a boy)
The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Buddy
The Devil's Party
Young Joe
Border Wolves
Jimmie Benton
The Kid Comes Back
Bobby Doyle
- 1937
Hollywood Round-Up
Dickie Stevens
The Pigskin Palooka
Spike
Love Is on the Air
Bill - Mouse's Friend
Renfrew of the Royal Mounted
Tommy MacDonald
Flying Fists
Dickie Martin
Smoke Tree Range
Teddy Page
Land Beyond the Law
Bobby Skinner (uncredited)
Ready, Willing and Able
Junior
Blake of Scotland Yard
Bobby Mason
Blake of Scotland Yard
Bobby Mason
- 1936
Wild Horse Round-Up
Dickie Williams
Daniel Boone
Master Jerry Randolph
Who's Looney Now
Sonny Brown
Love Begins at Twenty
Boy on Streetcar
36 Hours to Kill
Little Boy Selling The Garden Beautiful
Sutter's Gold
2nd Newsboy
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
Jimmy McLaw
- 1935
Our Gang Follies of 1936
Dickie
Moonlight on the Prairie
Dickie Roberts
O'Shaughnessy's Boy
Boy with Sling Shot at Parade
The Hawk
Dickie Thomas
The Call of the Savage
Jan Trevor as a Boy
- 1934
Little Men
Dolly
Appearances6
2020s
- 2023
Disney 100: Remember That
Self - Pinocchio(archive footage) (archive sound) (voice)
2000s
- 2009
The Making of 'Pinocchio': No Strings Attached
Self
- 2000
A Wish Came True: The Making of 'Pinocchio'
Himself
1990s
- 1993
Pinocchio: The Making of a Masterpiece
Self
1980s
- 1989
It All Started with a Mouse: The Disney Story
Self
1970s
- 1979
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion
Self