El Q Jones, a veteran actor whose career spanned seven decades, died Saturday of natural causes at his home in the Hollywood Hills. He was 94 years old.
Jones’ death was confirmed by his grandson, Erte de Garces. De Garces said Jones died surrounded by his family.
Born Judge Ellis McQueen on August 19, 1927, in Beaumont, Texas, Jones attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he met Sue Lewis, his wife of 23 years. They divorced in the 1970s.
McQueen adopted his stage name LQ Jones with his first film role in the 1955 Raoul Walsh film Battle Cry. Jones would carry the name throughout his acting career. His latest turn came in 2006 with Robert Altman’s final film, A Prairie Home Companion.
Jones collaborated with several of Hollywood’s most established directors of the mid-20th century, including Walsh, Don Siegel on Annapolis Story, and Mervyn LeRoy on Into the Unknown. He was also a regular supporting player in Sam Peckinpah’s action-packed westerns, with roles in The Wild Bunch, Ride the High Country, Major Dundee, The Battle of Cable Hogue and Pat Garrett and Billy the Billy Kid. Towards the end of the century, Jones also starred in Martin Campbell’s The Mask of Zorro, Roland Emmerich’s The Patriot and Martin Scorsese’s Casino.
Along with amassing 60 film acting roles over the course of his career, Jones was a regular in the world of television. He appeared primarily in Western series including Gunsmoke, The Virginian, Wagon Train, Rawhide, The Rifleman, Have Gun – Will Travel, and The Big Valley.
LQ Jones on the set of “Cheyenne” in the 1950s. Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
Jones’ career also extended beyond screen acting, producing four independent films in his lifetime. He produced, directed and wrote the 1975 film A Boy and His Dog, which was adapted from Harlan Ellison’s novel of the same name. Jones began the project as an executive producer, but took over writing and directing as other collaborators fell through.
A post-apocalyptic black comedy, A Boy and His Dog follows a teenager and his telepathic dog as they struggle to survive in the American Southwest in 2024, a time when nuclear damage has engulfed the world. Starring a young Don Johnson and Jones’ fellow Peckinpah alumnus Jason Robards, the film has earned a reputation as a cult classic over the years, with Jones stating that director George Miller cited it as an influence on his Mad Max series.
Jones is survived by his sons, Randy McQueen and Steve Marshall, and his beloved daughter, Mindy McQueen.
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