American actor and director L.Q. Jones has died of natural causes at the age of 94.
Jones appeared in many movies and TV series, often playing villains in Westerns. He is also known as the director of the cult sci-fi movie A Boy and His Dog. A family member advised on Saturday that Jones had passed away in his California home, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Jones was born as Justice Ellis McQueen Jr., and adopted “L.Q. Jones” as his stage name after playing a character with the name as his first acting role, in the 1955 movie Battle Cry. He went on to work alongside major Hollywood icons such as Clint Eastwood, Elvis Presley and Robert De Niro over his long career, and is particularly known for the villain that he played in 1969’s The Wild Bunch. Because he grew up in Texas around ranchers and rodeo riders, he was an accomplished horseman and said that starring in Westerns was “easy and fun.” He continued acting through the 1990s and into the early 2000s, with his final role being A Prairie Home Companion in 2006.
Classic television series that featured appearances by Jones include Lassie, Have Gun – Will Travel, Rawhide, My Favorite Martian, Hawaii Five-O, Gunsmoke, Kung Fu, The Incredible Hulk, Charlie’s Angels, The Dukes of Hazzard, The A-Team and Walker, Texas Ranger.
The movie A Boy and His Dog, which Jones wrote the script for and appeared in a cameo role in addition to directing, was released in 1975. Based on a novella by legendary sci-fi author Harlan Ellison, the movie depicts a post-apocalyptic United States where a teenager named Vic travels with a telepathic dog, Blood, scavenging for food and seeking women to satisfy Vic’s sexual urges.
A Boy and His Dog was not considered a success when it was released, but it became a cult classic and an influence on modern pop culture. The video game series Fallout is said to be inspired by the dystopian setting of A Boy and His Dog, and by the faithfulness of Blood, who is echoed in the character Dogmeat in Fallout 4. Jones independently produced and financed the film, and claimed that afterward he rejected several offers to direct. “I finally just said, ‘To hell with it,’ and just stopped and went on with the acting,” Jones explained. “Because by then I could pretty well pick and choose what I wanted to do.”
Source: The Hollywood Reporter