Carolyn Sue Jones (April 28, 1930 – August 3, 1983) was an American actress of television and film.[1][2] She began her film career in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had achieved recognition with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party (1957) and a Golden Globe Award as one of the most promising new actresses of 1959. Her film career continued for another 20 years. In 1964, Jones began playing the role of matriarch Morticia Addams in the black and white television series The Addams Family.
Carolyn Jones | |
|---|---|
 Jones in 1956 | |
| Born | Carolyn Sue Jones April 28, 1930 Amarillo, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | August 3, 1983 (aged 53) |
| Resting place | Melrose Abbey Memorial Park Cemetery, Anaheim, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1952–1983 |
| Spouses | Don Donaldson
(m. 1950; div. 1951)Peter Bailey-Britton
(m. 1982) |
Early life
editCarolyn Jones was born in Amarillo, Texas to homemaker Chloe Jeanette Southern (1906–1979),[3] and Julius Alfred Jones (1897–1979), a barber.[1][4][5] After their father abandoned the family in 1934, Carolyn and her younger sister, Bette Rhea Jones (1934–2020),[3] moved with their mother into her maternal grandparents' Amarillo home.[6] Jones suffered from severe asthma that often restricted her childhood activities, and when her condition prevented her from going to the movies, she became an avid reader of Hollywood fan magazines and aspired to become an actress. She enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse in California at age 17, with her grandfather, Charles W. Baker, paying her tuition.[7][8][9]
Film
editAfter being spotted by a talent scout at the Playhouse, Jones secured a contract with Paramount Pictures and made her first film, an uncredited part in The Turning Point (1952);[9] had an uncredited bit part as a nightclub hostess in The Big Heat (1953); and a role in House of Wax (also 1953) as the woman who is converted by Vincent Price's character into a Joan of Arc statue. She played Beth in Shield for Murder (1954), earning $500 per day for playing the role.[11]
Jones was cast in the film From Here to Eternity (1953) in the role of Alma "Lorene" Burke. A bout of pneumonia forced her to withdraw; the role earned Donna Reed the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.[12]
In 1956 she appeared in Invasion of the Body Snatchers and in the Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much, a remake of one of the director's earlier films.
In 1958, Jones was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party (1957), and she also shared the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress with Sandra Dee and Diane Varsi, and appeared with Elvis Presley in King Creole (1958).
Jones played opposite Frank Sinatra in Frank Capra's A Hole in the Head, Dean Martin in Career, and Anthony Quinn and Kirk Douglas in Last Train from Gun Hill (all 1959).
In the epic Western How the West Was Won (1963), she played the role of Sheriff Jeb Rawlings' (George Peppard) wife. She appears with Peppard and Debbie Reynolds in the final speaking/singing scenes of the film.
Television
editShe made her television debut on the DuMont series Gruen Playhouse in 1952. Jones appeared in several episodes of Dragnet starring Jack Webb from 1953-1955, credited as ‘’Caroline Jones’’. She appeared in two Rod Cameron syndicated series, City Detective and State Trooper, as Betty Fowler in the 1956 episode, "The Paperhanger of Pioche”. Jones also appeared on the CBS anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents in the episode "The Cheney Vase" (1955), as a secretary assisting her scheming boyfriend Darren McGavin in attempting an art theft, and opposite Ruta Lee.
In 1957 she had the lead in the episode "The Girl in the Grass" on CBS's Schlitz Playhouse, once again with Ray Milland and Nora Marlowe.
Jones guest-starred three times on the television series Wagon Train: in the first-season episode "The John Cameron Story" (1957) and in later color episodes "The Jenna Douglas Story" (1961) and "The Molly Kincaid Story" (1963). Also in 1963 she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star - Female for portraying quadruplets—one the murder victim and the others suspects—in the Burke's Law episode "Who Killed Sweet Betsy?"
She guest-starred in CBS's The DuPont Show with June Allyson, with James Best and Jack Mullaney, in the episode "Love on Credit" (1960).
In the 1962–1963 season, Jones guest-starred on CBS's The Lloyd Bridges Show, created by her second husband, television producer Aaron Spelling. While married to Spelling, she appeared on the NBC program Here's Hollywood.[13]
In 1964, Jones donned a long coal-black wig to play Morticia Addams in the television series The Addams Family, a role which brought her a Golden Globe Award nomination and success as a comedian. She guest-starred on the 1960s TV series Batman, playing Marsha, the Queen of Diamonds,[5] and in 1976 appeared as the title character's mother, Hippolyta, in the Wonder Woman TV series. In Tobe Hooper's movie Eaten Alive (1976), she played a madam running a rural whorehouse. The film also featured Neville Brand, Roberta Collins, and Robert Englund. Her last role was that of Myrna, the scheming matriarch of the Clegg clan, on the soap opera Capitol from the first episode in March 1982 until March 1983, though she already knew that she was dying of cancer. During her occasional absences, veteran actress Marla Adams subbed for her.
Her acting career declined after The Addams Family ended in 1966. Sporadic roles in the 1970s included that of Mrs. Moore, the wife of the plantation owner in the miniseries Roots.
Personal life
edit
Jones was married four times and had no children. While studying at the Pasadena Playhouse, she married Don Donaldson, a 28-year-old fellow student. The couple soon divorced.[14]
She converted to Judaism upon marrying Aaron Spelling; the marriage lasted from 1953 until their 1964 separation and divorce.[15]
Her third marriage, in 1968, was to Tony Award-winning Broadway musical director, vocal arranger and co-producer Herbert Greene (who was her vocal coach); she left him in 1977.[citation needed]
Jones' fourth and final marriage was to Peter Bailey-Britton in 1982, lasting until her death a year later.
Final years and death
editJones gained the role of the power-driven political matriarch Myrna Clegg in the CBS daytime soap opera Capitol in 1981. The following year, shortly after Capitol debuted, she was diagnosed with colon cancer, and played many of her scenes in a wheelchair.[16] The cancer spread quickly to her liver and stomach. Despite the pain, Jones finished the first season.[17]
Even after being diagnosed with cancer, Jones continued to work, telling colleagues that she was being treated for ulcers.[18] After a period of apparent remission, the cancer returned in 1982.
In July 1983, she fell into a coma at her home in West Hollywood, California, where she died on August 3. Her body was cremated the next day and a memorial service was held at Glasband-Willen Mortuary in Altadena, California, on August 5. Her ashes were interred in her mother's crypt at Melrose Abbey Memorial Park & Mortuary in Anaheim, California. She donated her Morticia costume and wig to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, while a collection of The Addams Family scripts was donated by Bailey-Britton to UCLA.[19]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | The Turning Point | Miss Lillian Smith | Uncredited |
| Road to Bali | Eunice | Uncredited | |
| 1953 | Off Limits | Deborah | Also known as: Military Policeman (UK title). Uncredited |
| The War of the Worlds | Blonde Party Guest | Uncredited | |
| House of Wax | Cathy Gray | ||
| The Big Heat | Doris | ||
| Geraldine | Kitty | ||
| 1954 | Make Haste to Live | Mary Rose | |
| The Saracen Blade | Elaine of Siniscola | ||
| Shield for Murder | Girl at Bar | ||
| Three Hours to Kill | Polly | Her character says: "I don't look so good in black" | |
| Désirée | Mme. Tallien | Uncredited | |
| 1955 | The Seven Year Itch | Nurse Finch | |
| The Tender Trap | Helen | ||
| 1956 | Invasion of the Body Snatchers | Theodora 'Teddy' Belicec | |
| The Man Who Knew Too Much | Cindy Fontaine | ||
| The Opposite Sex | Pat | ||
| 1957 | The Bachelor Party | The Existentialist | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| Johnny Trouble | Julie Horton | ||
| Baby Face Nelson | Sue Nelson | ||
| 1958 | Marjorie Morningstar | Marsha Zelenko | Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress (with Sandra Dee and Diane Varsi) |
| King Creole | Ronnie | ||
| 1959 | The Man in the Net | Linda Hamilton | |
| Last Train from Gun Hill | Linda | ||
| A Hole in the Head | Shirl | ||
| Career | Shirley Drake | ||
| 1960 | Ice Palace | Bridie Ballantyne | |
| 1961 | Sail a Crooked Ship | Virginia | |
| 1962 | How the West Was Won | Julie Rawlings | |
| 1963 | A Ticklish Affair | Tandy Martin | |
| 1969 | Heaven with a Gun | Madge McCloud | |
| Color Me Dead | Paula Gibson | ||
| 1976 | Eaten Alive | Miss Hattie | Also known as: Death Trap, Horror Hotel, and Starlight Slaughter |
| 1979 | Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff | Beth |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Chevron Theatre | ?; ? | 2 episodes: "An Affair at the Embassy" and "Call the Police" |
| 1952–1954 | Mr. and Mrs. North | Grace Wilson; Mrs. Janet Ferber; Ellen | 3 episodes: "A Good Buy", "Dead Man's Tale" and "Model for Murder" |
| 1953–1955 | Dragnet | ?; Donna Stewart; Marian Fuller; Laura Osborne; ? | 5 episodes; billed as Caroline Jones on first 4 episodes |
| 1954 | The Colgate Comedy Hour | Hazel | Season 4, Episode 21 |
| Lux Video Theatre | ? | Episode: "The Outside Witness" | |
| The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse | Alice; ?; Karen Brook | 3 episodes: "Account Closed", "The Silence" and "Doubled in Danger" | |
| Four Star Playhouse | Dolores | Episode: "The Answer" | |
| 1954–1955 | City Detective | Linda; Alene | 2 episodes: "On the Record" and "A Girl's Best Friend" |
| Treasury Men in Action | ?; Judy King; Eadie Starr | Also known as: Federal Men. 3 episodes | |
| Studio 57 | Corinna Rogers; Carol Marshall; Diana Flagg; Maria | 4 episodes | |
| My Favorite Husband | Janie Cooper | Season 1, Episode 40; Season 3, Episode 9: "The Painting" | |
| 1954–1957 | Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | June Sardo; Sarah; Girl; Wealthy Wife | 4 episodes |
| 1955 | Meet Mr. McNutley | Risa Powell | Episode: "Mr. Sargent and the Lady" |
| The Man Behind the Badge | Louise | Episode: "The Case of the Desperate Moment" | |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Pamela Waring | Episode: "The Cheney Vase" | |
| 1955–1956 | The 20th Century Fox Hour | Marcia Bridges; Rita Kirby | 2 episodes: "Cavalcade" and "The Heffron Family" |
| 1955–1957 | Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre | Patient; Madeline Kovak | 2 episodes: "The Key" and "The Little Black Lie" |
| The Millionaire | Emily Short; Carol Fletcher | 2 episodes: "The Emily Short Story" and "The Matt Kirby Story" | |
| 1956 | Star Stage | ? | Episode: "Screen Credit" |
| Passport to Danger | Sally Towne; Celia | 2 episodes: "Batavia" and "Athens" | |
| State Trooper | Betty Fowler | Episode: "The Paperhanger of Pioche" | |
| 1957 | Wire Service | Eve | Episode: "Dateline Las Vegas" |
| Panic! | Janet Hunter | Episode: "The Airline Hostess" | |
| General Electric Theater | Phyllis | Episode: "The Man Who Inherited Everything" | |
| Climax! | Helen | Episode: "The Disappearance of Amanda Hale" | |
| 1957–1961 | Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | Ella Clanton; Sal - Rue Royale Proprietor; Julie Whiting | 3 episodes: "Until the Man Dies", "Picture of Sal" and "Blood Red" |
| 1957–1963 | Wagon Train | Julie Cameron; Jenna Douglas; Molly Kincaid | 3 episodes: "The John Cameron Story", "The Jenna Douglas Story" and "The Molly Kincaid Story" |
| 1958 | Playhouse 90 | Julie Reynolds | Episode: "The Last Man" |
| 1959 | The David Niven Show | Girl | Episode: "Portrait" |
| 1960 | The DuPont Show with June Allyson | Lena Murchak | Also known as: The June Allyson Show. Episode: "Love on Credit" |
| 1961–1962 | The Dick Powell Show | Julie Greer; Hannah Cole; Cleo Plowright | 3 episodes: "Who Killed Julie Greer?", "Goodbye, Hannah" and "The Sea Witch" |
| 1962 | Frontier Circus | Amy Tyson | Episode: "Stopover in Paradise" |
| The Lloyd Bridges Show | Cathy | Episode: "Just Married" | |
| Dr. Kildare | Evy Schaller | Episode: "The Mask Makers" | |
| 1963–1964 | Burke's Law | The Richards quadruplets; Carole Durand | 2 episodes: "Who Killed Sweet Betsy?" and "Who Killed Madison Cooper?" Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star - Female[broken anchor] (1963) |
| 1964 | The DuPont Show of the Week | Jo Jo | Episode: "Jeremy Rabbitt - The Secret Avenger" |
| 1964–1966 | The Addams Family | Morticia Addams; Ophelia Frump; Lady Fingers | Main role, 64 episodes |
| 1966–1967 | Batman | Marsha, Queen of Diamonds | 5 episodes |
| 1967 | Rango | Belle Starker | Episode: "What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing Holding Up a Place Like This?" |
| The Danny Thomas Hour | Stacey McCall | Episode: "Fame Is a Four-Letter Word" | |
| 1969 | Bracken's World | Paula Shannon | Episode: "King David" |
| The Mod Squad | Ginny / Lisa Whittaker | Episode: "Lisa" | |
| Storybook Squares | Morticia Addams | Series debut | |
| 1969–1970 | Love, American Style | Vera | Segment: "Love and the Geisha". 2 episodes |
| 1970 | The Name of the Game | Lydia Mulholland | Episode: "Why I Blew Up Dakota" |
| 1971 | The Men from Shiloh | Annie Spencer | Episode: "The Legacy of Spencer Flats" |
| Dan August | Margo | Episode: "The Assassin" | |
| 1972 | The New Scooby-Doo Movies | Morticia Addams (voice) | Episode: "Wednesday Is Missing" |
| Ghost Story | Martha Alcott | Episode: "The Summer House" | |
| 1973 | The New Perry Mason | Marian Ryan | Episode: "The Case of the Frenzied Feminist" |
| 1974 | Ironside | Justine Cross | 2 episodes: "Raise the Devil: Parts 1 & 2" |
| 1975 | Kolchak: The Night Stalker | The Registrar | Episode: "Demon in Lace" |
| 1976 | Ellery Queen | Rita Radcliffe | Episode: "The Adventure of the Hardhearted Huckster" |
| 1976–1977 | Wonder Woman | Queen Hippolyta | 3 episodes: "The Feminum Mystique: Parts 1 & 2" and "Wonder Woman in Hollywood" |
| 1977 | Roots | Mrs. Moore | Television miniseries |
| Halloween with the New Addams Family | Morticia Addams; Ophelia Frump | Television film | |
| Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels | Additional voices | Episode: "The Mystery Mansion Mix-Up" | |
| Little Ladies of the Night | Marilyn Atkins | Television film | |
| 1977–1981 | Quincy, M.E. | Nurse Barbara Grayson; Sybil Presstin; Victoria Sawyer | 3 episodes: "Valleyview", "Last of the Dinosaurs" and "Stain of Guilt" |
| 1979 | The French Atlantic Affair | Peg | Television miniseries |
| The Love Boat | Margaret Jerome | Episode: "Play by Play / Cindy / What's a Brother For?" (Segment: "Cindy") | |
| 1979–1982 | Fantasy Island | Ellie Simpson; Jessie DeWinter; Clora McAllister; Ellie Ackland | 4 episodes |
| 1980 | The Dream Merchants | Vera | Television miniseries |
| Whew! | Herself | 5 episodes | |
| 1981 | Midnight Lace | Bernadette Chance | Television film. Remake of 1960 feature film |
| 1982 | Tattletales | Herself | 5 episodes |
| 1982–1983 | Capitol | Myrna Clegg | Main role (until becoming ill in April 1983); her final acting role |
Honors
edit| Year | Award | Category | Title of work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Academy Award | Best Supporting Actress | The Bachelor Party | Nominated |
| 1959 | Golden Globe Award | New Star of the Year – Actress | Marjorie Morningstar | Won |
| 1963 | Best TV Star - Female[broken anchor] | Burke's Law | Nominated |
References
edit- ^ a b Pylant, James (May 27, 2007). "The Addams Family's Carolyn Jones: A Descendant of Geronimo?". Genealogy Magazine. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
- ^ Birth Certificate
- ^ a b Pylant, James (2012). In Morticia's Shadow: The Life & Career of Carolyn Jones. Jacobus Books. ISBN 978-0984185757.
- ^ Stroder, Chris (2000). Swingin' Chicks of the '60s: A Tribute to 101 of the Decade's Defining Women. Cedco Publishing. ISBN 978-0768322323.
- ^ a b Donnelley, Paul (2005). Fade To Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. New York City: Omnibus Press. p. 528. ISBN 978-1844494309.
She was one of the stars on the hit TV game show Match Game (1973).
- ^ "1940 United States Census". Family Search. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
- ^ Pylant 2012, p. 36.
- ^ Thise, Mark M. (2008). Hollywood Winners and Losers, A to Z. Limelight Editions. p. 97. ISBN 978-0879103514.
- ^ a b "Carolyn Jones Is Dead at 50; A TV Actress". The New York Times. United Press International. August 4, 1983.
- ^ Carolyn Jones at the Internet Broadway Database
- ^ Weaver, Tom (January 10, 2014). A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde: Interviews with 62 Filmmakers. McFarland & Company. p. 174. ISBN 978-0786458318.
- ^ "Carolyn Jones". TVGuide.com. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
- ^ "Carolyn Jones and Marshall Thompson". Here's Hollywood. Episode 1.39. November 23, 1960. NBC.
- ^ Milwaukee Sentinel August 9, 1959, p.27
- ^ Spelling, Aaron; Graham, Jefferson (1996). A Prime-Time Life: An Autobiography. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0312142681."Do you think you know film? The 'TCM Classic Movie Trivia' book has more than 4,000 questions to test your knowledge", Los Angeles Times, September 19, 2011.
- ^ Del Vecchio, Deborah (December 19, 2012). Beverly Garland: Her Life and Career. McFarland & Company. p. 149. ISBN 978-0786465019.
- ^ Schemering, Christopher (1988). The Soap Opera Encyclopedia. Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0345324597.
- ^ Bennett, Ray (April 28, 2015). "Why Carolyn Jones did not want to kiss Elvis Presley". The Cliff Edge. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
- ^ Pylant 2012, p. 207.
Bibliography
edit- Pylant, James (2012). In Morticia's Shadow: The Life & Career of Carolyn Jones. Jacobus Books. ISBN 978-0984185757.
Further reading
edit- Jones, Carolyn (1971). Twice Upon a Time. Trident Press. ISBN 978-0671270742.
External links
edit
