Dean Jones, who’s all-American manner and boyish good-looks made him one of Disney’s favorite stars during the 1960’s and ‘70’s has passed away from Parkinson’s Disease at the age of 84.
Born in Decatur, Alabama on January 25, 1931, Dean Carroll Jones first caught the eye of Walt Disney while starring in the TV show “Ensign O’Toole,” which preceded Disney’s own Sunday night program on NBC in 1962. Two years later Disney offered him a role in “That Darn Cat,” opposite Hayley Millls, released in 1965. It was the first of 10 films he did for the studio between 1965-1977, including the “Herbie the Love Bug” series about a VW Beetle with a “human” personality. He was later honored by being inducted into the Disney Legends Hall of Fame.
In addition to starring in over 46 films, such as “Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), “Jailhouse Rock” with Elvis Presley (1957) Imitation General (also 1957) with Glenn Ford and “Never So Few (1959) with Frank Sinatra, Jones also starred in 5 Broadway shows. In fact, he made his Broadway debut (along with Jane Fonda) in the 1960 play There Was a Little Girl.” He also played Dave Manning in the Broadway comedy “Under the Yum-Yum Tree, a role which he repeated in the 1963 movie version starring Jack Lemmon, and originated the role of Bobby in Stephen Sondheim's “Company.” He also appeared on a number of other TV shows, and recorded a singing album, Introducing Dean Jones, for Valiant Records.
Dean Jones became a devout born-again Christian in 1973–1974, before his father's death in 1979, and wrote a book, Under Running Laughter (1982) about his experience of Christianity. He had had a history of suffering from depression. His wife Lory Patrick stated, “One night he got down on his knees and prayed that God would free him from the miserable moods that he had always suffered. He told me that in an instant it was gone and he felt peace and joy flood into his heart."[2] Jones appeared in several Christian films, and in 1998, founded the Christian Rescue Committee (CRC), an organization that helps provide a "way of escape to Jews, Christians, and others persecuted for their faith.
In addition to Lory, he is survived by 2 children from his first wife Mae Inez Entwistle, as well as 8 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.
http://www.examiner.com/article/dean-jones-dead-at-84-from-parkinson-s
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