L. Q. Jones Biography: Life, Career, and Legacy of Justice Ellis McQueen, Jr. (1927–2022)

Justice Ellis McQueen, Jr., a character actor and director better known as L. Q. Jones, was born on August 19, 1927, in Beaumont, Texas, to Justice Ellis McQueen, Sr., a Kansas City Southern Railroad switchman, and Jessie Paralee (Stephens) McQueen. In 1931 his mother died of injuries that she suffered in an automobile accident. McQueen and his father were in the fatal crash but only suffered minor injuries. After his mother’s death, McQueen was raised by various relatives, including his uncle and aunt, Noah and Juanita Purcell, of Port Neches. He attended Port Neches High School and graduated in 1945, then studied at Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas. McQueen enrolled at the University of Texas, where he was on the cheerleading squad and a member of Alpha Phi Omega and Phi Kappa Sigma. While in college, he also worked as a comedian, performing more than 800 shows for students and service members. Before graduation, while he was still a senior,  Justice Ellis McQueen, Jr., married fellow college student Neta Sue Lewis on October 8, 1950, at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Austin. They later had three children—Randy, Steve, and Mindy—but divorced in 1979.

After graduation, McQueen was employed in various jobs, including as a salesman in Austin. He then bought a ranch and became a rancher in Nicaragua. During this time, Fess Parker, his former roommate at the University of Texas, sent him a copy of Leon Uris's Battle Cry, a novel about the Marine Corps in the Pacific theater during World War II, and a note about a possible role in a movie based on the book. Parker already had a role in the film. McQueen read the book and decided he wanted to audition for the role of L. Q. Jones in the film. He flew to Hollywood, successfully auditioned for the role, and earned a personal contract with director Raoul Walsh. McQueen liked the role in Battle Cry (1955) so much that he adopted his character's name, L. Q. Jones, as his screen name.

Following Battle Cry, in 1955 Jones appeared in two other military films, set during the Korean War era: An Annapolis Story and Target Zero. In the same year, he made his television debut in the series Cheyenne, portraying “Smitty Smith,” Clint Walker’s sidekick on the show, which was the first hour-long primetime Western. However, Jones was written out after only three episodes. The following year, he portrayed “Ned Blane” in two episodes of the series Annie Oakley. He rapidly gained recognition as a prominent actor in film and television and established a career spanning six decades. His numerous credits for military movies over the years included Toward the Unknown (1956), Anthony Mann’s Men in War (1957), and Walsh’s The Naked and the Dead (1958). Meanwhile, Jones performed in many Western television programs, mostly as comic relief. His character appeared in twenty-five episodes of The Virginian (1962–1971) across eight seasons. Additionally, he was called upon to play different roles in multiple episodes within a single series; he appeared eight times in Laramie, seven times in Gunsmoke, five times in Rawhide and The Big Valley, and four times in the non-Western Lassie.

His first Western film was an uncredited role in Elvis Presley’s Love Me Tender (1956); he worked with Presley again in Flaming Star (1960) and the rodeo-themed Stay Away Joe (1968). His second Western was Budd Boetticher’s Buchanan Rides Alone (1958), starring Randolph Scott, and he was cast in Cimarron (1960), Apache Rifles (1964), Nevada Smith (1966), Hang ‘Em High (1968), and The Hunting Party (1971). In the early 1960s, Jones began an association with director Sam Peckinpah. Jones became a key member of Peckinpah's stock company of actors, appearing in five of his films: Ride the High Country (1962), Major Dundee (1965), The Wild Bunch (1969), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), and Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973). He frequently portrayed shady, lowlifе, or villainous characters. Jones’s comments regarding Peckinpah reflected the complexity of the director: “Sam was a genius and I loved him, but he was a basket case.”

Jones started his film production career in 1964 with a modern Western called The Devil’s Bedroom, set around an oil well. As his career progressed, he served as an executive producer on the horror film The Witchmaker (1969) and contributed as an actor, writer, and producer to The Brotherhood of Satan (1971). His proudest achievement was a 1975 film he scripted, directed, and financed—A Boy and His Dog—a highly acclaimed science fiction classic based on the novella by Harlan Ellison and starring a young Don Johnson. For his adaptation of the novella, Jones received the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, the top honor in science fiction. The dystopian movie, set in the future time of 2024, has been credited as the inspiration for the Mad Max series of films.

Although he did not take on leading roles, Jones appeared in action films such as White Line Fever (1975) and Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976). He continued to star in episodes of numerous television series into the 1990s. In 1983 he played the sheriff in The Yellow Rose, a primetime soap opera (inspired by the Dallas series) that starred Sam Elliott and Cybill Shepherd. He also appeared in five episodes of the syndicated series Renegade in 1994. By then, Jones was taking larger roles in major films, notably in Martin Scorsese’s Casino (1995). He also appeared in The Edge (1997) with Anthony Hopkins and in The Patriot and The Mask of Zorro (both 1998). His last film was as a country singer in Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion (2006).

During his career, Jones appeared in more than seventy movies, more than twenty-five television movies, and more than 400 television series. In addition, he worked as a director, producer, and writer. During his life, he was active in the Methodist Church and chaired the Board of Stewards at the Camarillo Heights Community Methodist Church in Camarillo, California, during the early 1960s. He was inducted into the Museum of the Gulf Coast, Notable People Hall of Fame, in October 2001. Jones (McQueen) died on July 9, 2022, at age ninety-four, in Los Angeles, California. His ashes were buried alongside his parents in Magnolia Cemetery in Beaumont, Texas.